Epistolae; the letters of Dante. Emended text with introd., translation, notes ... by Paget Toynbee

>■■>■/ &&

THE
LETTERS OF DANTE

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Specimens of Old French (Cent. IX to Cent. XV) (1892).

Historical French Gramraar (1896).

A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the

Works of Dante (1898).
Life of Dante (1900, 1902, 1904, 1910 ; Italian translation,

1908).
II Testo Wittiano della Divina Commedia riveduto (1900).
Cary's Dante, with introduction and notes, 3 vols. (1900-2).
Dante Studies and Researches (1902 ; Italian translation,

1899, 1904).

In the Footprints of Dante : a Treasury of Verse and Prose
from the Works of Dante (1907).

Dante in English Literature from Chaucer to Cary, 2 vols.
(1909).

Concise Dante Dictionary (1914).

Correspondence of Gray, Walpole, West, and Ashton, 2 vols.

(1915).
Letters of Horace Walp qle ( Sup pleme nt), 2 vols. (1918). •*

DANTIS ALAGHERII
EPISTOLAE

THE

LETTERS OF DANTE

Emended Text

With Introduetion, Translation, Notes, and Indices
and Appendix on the Cursus

By
PAGET TOYNBEE, M.A., D.Litt.

CORRESrONDING MEMBER OF THE REALE ACCADEMIA DELLA CRUSCA

OF THE REALE ISTITUTO LOMBARDO DI SCIENZE E LETTERE

AND OF THE REALE ACCADEMIA DI LUCCA

FELLOW OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY

Dietro alle poste delle care piante.'

Inf. xxiii. 148.

OXFORD

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

MCMXX

Ko

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK

TORONTO MELBOURNE CAPE TOWN BOMBAY

HUMPHREY MILFORD

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY

PREFACE

The present edition of The Letters of Dante is offered
to students, as the outcome of my labours on the subject
during the past six or seven years, pending the publication
of the ' official ' critical edition projected by the Societa
Dantesca Italiana, as part of the complete critical edition
of Dante's works promised (in the days before the war)
for the sixth centenary (September, 1921) of the poefs
death.

The text of the Epistolae as here presented, except in
the case of Epist. x (the letter to Can Grande), 1 is based
upon my own collations of all the known MSS. (by means
of photographic reproductions or of facsimiles), and of the
printed editions. The results of these collations, together
with diplomatic transcripts of the MS. texts, lists of pro-
posed emendations in the texts as printed in the Oxford
Dante, and texts of the Epistolae as provisionally emended,
have been printed in a series of articles published in the
Modern Language Beview between the years 1912 and
1919. Most of these articles- have had the great advan-

1 See introductory note to this letter, p. 160.

2 The following is a list of these articles in the Modern Language
Review: 1. 'The Vatican Text (Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729) of the
Letters of Dante' (vol. vii, pp. 1-39. Jan. 1912). 2. <The San
Pantaleo Text of Dante's Letters to the Emperor Henry VII, and

vi LETTERS OF DANTE

tage of the expert criticism in the pages of the Bullettino
della Societd Dantesca Italiana 1 of the editor, Professor
E. G. Parodi, and latterly of Professor E. Pistelli, 2 from
which I have derived much encouragement and no little
positive assistance, both in the way of correction and of
suggestion, assistance of which I have availed myself in
the present work, and for which I take this opportunity
of expressing my grateful acknowledgements.

to the Princes and Peoples of Italy' (vol. vii, pp. 208-24. April,
1912). 3. <The Venetian Text (Cod. Marc. Lat. xv. 115) of Dante's
Letter to the Emperor Henry VII ' (vol. vii, pp. 433-40. Oct. 1912).
4. * The San Pantaleo Italian Translation of Dante's Letter to the
Emperor Henry VII ' (vol. ix, pp. 332-43. July, 1914). 5. * Dante's
Letter to the Emperor Henry VII : Critical Text ' (vol. x, pp. 64-
72. Jan. 1915). 6. ' Dante's Letter to the Princes and Peoples
ofltaly: Critical Text ' (vol. x, pp. 150-6. April, 1915). 7. <The
Laurentian Text (Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8) of Dante's Letter to a Priend
in Florence : With Emended Text and Translation ' (vol. xi, pp. 61-8.
Jan. 1916). 8. 'The Laurentian Text (Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8) of
Dante's Letter to a Pistojan Exile : With Emended Text and Trans-
lation ' (vol. xii, pp. 37-44, 359-60. Jan., July, 1917). 9. < Dante's
Letter to the Floi'entines : Emended Text and Translation ' (vol. xii,
pp. 182-91. April, 1917). 10. <The Battifolle Letters attributed
to Dante: Emended Text and Translation' (vol. xii, pp. 302-9.
July, 1917). 11. <The Laurentian Text (Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8)
of Dante's Letter to the Italian Cardinals: With Emended
Text and Translation' (vol. xiii, pp. 208-27. April, 1918).
12. • Dante's Letter to Can Grande (Epist. x) : Emended Text '
(vol. xiv, pp. 278-302. July, 1919).

1 Articles by Professor Parodi were published in the Bullettino for
Dec. 1912 (N.S. vol. xix, pp. 249-75) and Sept.-Dec. 1915 (N.S.
vol. xxii, pp. 137-44) ; and by Professor Pistelli in the Bullettino for
March-June-Sept. 1917 (N.S. vol. xxiv, pp. 58-61, 61-5).

2 To Professor Pistelli has been entrusted, since the lamented
death of Professor Francesco Novati, the task of preparing the
critical edition of the Epistolae for the Societa Dantesca Italiana.

PREFACE

vn

Ifc has not been thought necessary to reprint here the
diplomatic transcripts of the MS. texts, nor the collations
of the printed editions of the Epistolae in the above-men-
tioned articles in the Modem Language JReview. The
present text is provided with an apparatus criticus in
which are registered the divergences of this text from the
readings of the MSS., and from those of the text of the
Oxford Danie (as representing the ' standard ' printed text).
Prefixed to each letter is a brief account of the MSS. in
which it has been preserved, and of the printed editions
and translations, together with discussions of the authen-
ticity and date, and a summary of contents. Each letter
is accompanied by notes, and by an English translation. '

In illustration of the historical allusions a Chronological
Table, from the date of Dante's Priorate (1300) to that of
his death (1321), is provided in the Appendices ; 2 in which
will also be found an article on ' Dante and the Cursus ',
containing an examination of Dante's Latin (prose) works
in general, and of the JEpistolae in particular, from the
point of view of the cursus.*

1 I have availed myself, with due acknowledgement, of the notes
of previous editors. In my translation I have borrowed an
occasional word or term from the renderings of Latham (in his
Translation of Dante's Eleven Letters, Boston, U.S.A., 1891) and of
Wicksteed (in Translation of the Laiin Worksof Dante Alighieri, London,
1904) ; and I have consulted on occasion the Italian version of
Fraticelli (printed in his edition of the Opere Minori di Dante Alighieri,
Firenze, 1857), and the G-erman of Kannegiesser (in Dante Alighieri's
prosaische Schriften mit Ausnahme cler Vita Nuova, Leipzig, 1845). The
Battifolle letters are now translated into English for the first time.

2 See Appendix B. 3 See Appendix C.

viii LETTERS OF DANTE

No attempt has been made in the present text of the
Epistolae to reproduce the mediaeval Latin spelling,
which is 'modernized' in conformity with the practice
observed in the Oxford Dante. Mediaeval forms of words,
on the other hand, are scrupulously preserved, such
forms on occasion being essential to the maintenance of
the cursus. 1

A full index is provided, in four sections, namely, an
Index Nominum, comprising the names of persons and
places mentioned in the Epistolae ; an Index Verborum,
a list of words, or examples of words, not registered in
the American Dante Society's Concordance to the Latin
Works of Dante, which occur in the present texts ; an
Index of Quotations, consisting of references to passages
quoted, directly or indirectly, by Dante, from classical and
other authors, and from Scripture ; and lastly, a Biblio-
graphical and General Index, covering the Introduction
(which comprises a history of the Epistolae from the
fourteenth century to the present dayj, Notes, and
Appendices.

It will be observed that, except in the case of the Batti-
folle letters {Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***), the numeration of
the lines of the Latin texts of the Epistolae is double.
That on the left-Jiand side of the page (to which references
in the Notes and Appendices apply) corresponds with the

1 For instance, in Epist. vi. 152, the iexlus receptus substitutes the
classical form susurrusi br the mediaeval susurrium, reading 'susurro
blandientem ', and thus violating the cursus, which is rectified by
the restoration of the MS. reading, 'susurrio blandientem' (velox).

PREFACE ix

numbering of the lines in the Oxford Dante, which is now
almost universally accepted as the ' standard ' numeration
for the purpose of reference. 1 The numeration (of every
fifth line) on the right-liand side of the page (to which
references in the Indices apply) is necessitated by the fact
that in not a few cases the introduction or excision of
matter in the course of the constitution of the present
text has thrown out the Oxford numbering of the lines.
The Battifolle letters, as not being included in the Oxford
Dante, are numbered on the right-hand side only.

I had hoped to avail myself of the advice and assistanee
of my old friend and fellow Dantist, Dr. Edward Moore,
in the preparation of this edition, which was undertaken
in the first instance largely at his suggestion ; 2 but this
was not to be. I had, however, the satisfaction of re-
ceiving his approval of sundry of my proposed emendations
in the Oxford text, which I had submitted to him for his
consideration, shortly before his death.

In conclusion, I desire to express my acknowledgements
for valuable suggestions and generous assistance to my
friend, Dr. C. B. Heberden, Principal of Brasenose, as

1 It is, for example, the numeration adopted in my own Dante
Dictionaries, and (at Professor C. E. Norton's instance, as the result
of an appeal from myself) in the American Dante Society's Con-
cordances to the Italian Prose Works and Latin Works of Dante
(printed at the Clarendon Press).

2 In the last letter I received from him, just a week before he
died, Dr. Moore once more expressed the hope that I would em-
body the result of my labours on the text in a new edition of the
Epistolae.

x LETTERS OF DANTE

well as to other members of the Oxford Dante Society,
among whom should specially be mentioned Professor
W. P. Ker of All Souls, the Dean of Christ Church
(Dr. Strong), and the Rev. F. E. Brightman of Magdalen ;
also to the late Dr. Bannister, formerly of Rome, for his
kind offices in procuring photographic reproductions of
the Vatican and S. Pantaleo MSS. of the Epistolae, and
to Mr. Horatio F. Brown, of Venice, for similar services
with regard to the Marcian MS.

I am glad to take this opportunity of acknowledging
my indebtedness to the Press readers, to whose vigilance
is due the detection of sundry errors and misprints which
had escaped my notice.

PAGET TOYNBEE.

FrVEWAYS, BURNHAM, BuCKS.

March 1920.

' Omnium hominum quos ad amorem veritatis natura
superior impressit, hoc maxime interesse videtur, ut
quemadmodum de labore antiquorum ditati sunt, ita et
ipsi posteris prolaborent, quatenus ab eis posteritas
habeat quo ditetur?

(Dantis De Monarchia, i. 1, 1-7.)

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction : History of the Letters of Dante
List of Letters

PAGE
V

xiii
. lv

LETTERS OF DANTE:—

Epistola i : To Cardinal Niccolo da Prato
Epistola ii : To Counts Oberto and Guido da" Romena
Epistola iii (iv) : To a Pistojan Exile . . ...
Epistola iv (iii) : To Marquis Moroello' Malaspina
Epistola v : To the Princes and Peoples of Italy
Epistola vi : To the Florentines .
^pistola vii : To Emperor Henry VII
Epistola vii* : To Empress Margaret .
Epistola vii** : To Empress Margaret
Epistola vii*** : To Empress Margaret
Epistola viii : To the Italian Cardinals
Epistola ix : To a Friend in Florence
Epistola x : To Can Grande della Scala

Appendix A : Alleged Letter of Dante to Guido da Polenta

Appendix B : Chronological Table (1300-1321)

Appendix C : Dante and the Cursus : —

§ 1. History and Nature of the Mediaeval Cursus
§ 2. The Cursus in the De Monarchia, De Vulgari

Eloquentia, and Quaestio

§ 3. The Cursus in the Epistolae ....

Appendix D : Correspondences and Divergences in the
three MS. Texts of Epist. vii

1

11

19

29

42

63«^

82 '
106
112
116
121
148
160 •

211 ^

213

224

231
234

247

l^

xii LETTERS OF DANTE

PAGE

Appendix E: The Relations between the S. Pantaleo
Italian Translation of Epist. vii and the S. Pantaleo

Latin Text 249

Index Nominum 255

Index Verborum . 262

Index op Quotations 271

blbliographical and general index . . . 280

INTRODUCTION

THE HISTORY OF THE LETTERS OF DANTE

FROM THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY TO THE

PRESENT DAY 1

That Dante was the author of numerous letters, some
of which were in the nature of political manifestoes,
while others were more or less concerned with his own
personal interests, we know from various sources.

In the first place we have Dante's own testimony in
the Vita Nuova, where he refers (§31) to a letter which
he says he addressed to the principal personages of the
city of Florence after the death of Beatrice, which took
place on the evening of June 8, 1290. 2 He quotes the
beginning of this letter (' Quomodo sedet sola civitas ! '), 3
but excuses himself for not transcribing more than the
opening words on the ground that the letter was in Latin,
and it was not his intention to include in the Vita Nuova
anything that was not written in the vulgar tongue. 4

1 This Introduction, which was originally read as a paper before
the Oxford Dante Society, is reprinted, with additions and correc-
tions, from the Thirty-Sixth Annual Report (1917) of the Cambridge
(U.S.A.) Dante Society, pp. 8-30.

2 Vita Nuova, § 30, 11. 1-6 ; see my Dante Studies and Researches,
pp. 61-4.

3 This letter, of which no other trace has been preserved, is not
to be confounded, as it has been by some, with another letter of
Dante, that addressed to the Italian Cardinals (Epist. viii), which
begins with the same quotation from Lamentations (i. 1).

4 ' Poiche la gentilissima donna fu partita da questo secolo,
rimase tutta la cittade quasi vedova, dispogliata di ogni dignitade,

xiv LETTERS OF DANTE

The earliest independent testimony is that furnished
by two of Dante's contemporaries, namely the astrologer-
poet Francescc degli Stabili, better known as Cecco
d'Ascoli, who was burned as a free-thinker at Florence
six years after Dante's death ; and the chronicler Giovanni
Villani, who was Dante's neighbour in Florence, and, as
his nephew Filippo records, was a personal friend of the
poet ('Patruus meus Johannes Villani hystoricus . . .
Danti fuit amicus et sotius'). 1 Cecco d' Ascoli in the
third book of his encyclopaedic poem V Acerba treats of
the origin of nobility, which he says had already been
treated of by the Florentine poet in his polished verse :

Fu gia trattato coh le dolci rime
E definito il nobile valore
Dal Fiorentino con 1' acute lime ;

the reference, of course, being to the canzone ' Le dolci
rime d' amor, ch' io solia ' prefixed to the fourth book of
the Convivio. Cecco controverts Dante's theory, and
maintains that nobility is due to the influence of one of
the heavens, namely that of Mercury, upon the individual
possessed of ancient blood ; ' but hereupon,' he interjects,
'Dante wrote to me to express a doubt, saying: "Two
sons are born at a birth, and the elder turns out more

ond' io, ancora lagrimando in questa desolata cittade, scrissi
a' principi della terra alquanto della sua condizione, pigliando
quello cominciamento di Geremia profeta : Quomodo sedet sola civitas !
. . . E se alcuno volesse me riprendere di cio, che non scrivo qui le
parole che seguitano a quelle allegate, scusomene, perocche lo
intendimento mio non fu da principio di scrivere altro che per
volgare : onde, conciossiacosache le parole, che seguitano a quelle
che sono allegate, sieno tutte latine, sarebbe fuori del mio intendi-
mento se io le scrivessi ' (§ 31, 11. 1-21).

1 See § 22 of Filippo Villani's Comento al primo canto deW Inferno
(ed. Gr. Cugnoni, p. 79).

INTRODUCTION xv

noble than the other, or vice versa, as I have known
before now. I am returning to Kavenna and shall not
depart thence again. Tell me, you of Ascoli, what have
you to say to this ? " And I wrote back to Dante . . .'

(Ma qui me scrisse dubitando Dante :

Son doi figlioli nati in uno parto,

E piu gentil si mostra quel davante,
Et cio converso, come gia vedi.

Torno a Kavenna, e de li non mi parto.

Dime, Esculano, quel che tu credi.
Kescrissi a Dante : Intendi tu che leggi . . .)

and he then proceeds to develop his argument.

This correspondence with Cecco d' Ascoli must have
taken place during the last three or four years of Dante's
life, while he was the guest of Guido Novello da Polenta
at Kavenna, that is, probably, not earlier than 1317.

Villanfs testimony is contained in the ninth book of
his Cronica, a chapter of which, under the year 1321, the
year of Dante's death, is devoted to a brief biographical
account of his distinguished fellow-citizen (ix. 136 : ' Chi
fu il poeta Dante Alighieri di Firenze '). In this account,
in which he gives an enumeration of Dante's most im-
portant writings, after mentioning the Vita Nuova and
the canzoni, Villani says :

This Dante, when he was in exile, wrote, among others,
three noble letters, one of which he sent to the govern-
ment of Florence, complaining of his undeserved exile ;
the second he sent to the Emperor Henry when he was
besieging Brescia, 1 reproaching him for his delay, after
the manner of the prophets of old ; and the third he
sent to the Italian Cardinals at the time of the vacancy
of the Holy See after the death of Pope Clement, urging
them to agree together in electing an Italian Pope.
1 Actually Cremona.

xvi LETTERS OF DANTE

These letters were written in Latin, in a loffcy style, for-
tified with admirable precepts and authorities, and were
greatly commended by men of wisdom and discernment. 1

Of the three letters specifically mentioned by Villani,
two have been preserved ; namely, that to the Emperor
Henry (Epist vii) and that to the Italian Cardinals
(Epist. viii). The third, that to the Florentine Govern-
ment, which is perhaps identical with one of those
mentioned by a subsequent authority, Leonardo Bruni, 2
has not come down to us.

Valuable evidence, direct and indirect, is supplied in
the next generation by Boccaccio, who, in his Vita di
Dante, written probably between 1357 and 1362, 3 says
that the poet ' wrote many prose epistles in Latin, of
which a number are still in existence ' ; 4 and who cer-
tainly had first-hand knowledge of at least six of the
letters now extant. These are the letter to the Emperor
Henry VII (Epist. vii) and that to a friend in Florence
(Epist. ix), of which use is made in chapters five and
twelve of the Vita dl Dante ; E the letter to Can Grande
(Epist. x), which is largely utilized in the first and fifth

1 ; Quando fu in esilio . . . in tra Y altre fece tre nobili pistole ;
T una mando al reggimento di Firenze dogliendosi del suo esilio
sanza colpa; 1' altra manclo allo 'mperadore Arrigo quand' era al-
1' assedio di Brescia, riprendendolo della sua stanza, quasi profetiz-
zando ; la terza a' cardinali italiani, quand' era la vacazione dopo
la morte di papa Clemente, acciocche s' accordassono a eleggere papa
italiano ; tutte in latino con alto dettato, e con eccellenti sentenzie
e autoritadi, le quali furono molto commendate da' savi intenditori.'

2 See below, p. xxiii.

3 See Oskar Hecker, Boccaccio-Funde, p. 154.

4 'Fece ancora questo valoroso poeta molte epistole prosaiche in
latino, delle quali ancora appariscono assai ' (§ 16, ed. Macri-Leone,
p. 74).

5 §§ 5, 12, ed. Macri-Leone, pp. 29, 59.

INTRODUCTION xvii

Lesioni of fche Comento sopra la Commedia ; the letter to
Moroello Malaspina (Epist. iv (iii)), portions of which are
incorporated in the letter Ignoto Militi (that beginning
■ Mavortis miles extrenue ') ; l and the letters to the
Pistojan exile, commonly identified with Cino da Pistoja
(Epist. iii (iv)), and to the Italian Cardinals (Fpist. viii),
which, together with the ]etter to the Florentine friend
already mentioned, have been preserved in a MS., the
only known MS. containing them, written by Boccaccio*s
own hand. 2

The letter to Can Grande, it may be observed, was
known in one form or another to several of the fourteenth-
century commentators on the Commedia besides Boccaccio,
namely to Guido da Pisa (c. 1324), Jacopo della Lana
(c. 1326), the author of the Ottimo Comento (c. 1334),
Pietro di Dante (1340-1), Francesco da Buti (1385-
95), and Filippo Villani (1391) ; 3 but of these, Filippo
Villani, who in his inaugural lecture delivered in 1391,
as occupant of the Dante chair at Florence, refers to the
letter as ' quoddam introductorium [nostri poetae] super
cantu primo Paradisi ad dominum Canem de la Scala
destinatum ', 4 is the only one who mentions ihat it was
addressed to Can Grande.

1 The text of Boccaccio's letter is printed in full, with the parallel
passages from Dante's letter, by G. Vandelli, in Bullettino della Socieia
Dantesca Italiana, N.S. vii. 64-7.

1 This is the Laurentian MS. (xxix. 8), which has been shown by
Henri Hauvette to be written, so far as the portions relating to
Dante are concerned, in Boccaccio's autograph (see Hauvette's
Notes sur des manuscrits autographes de Boccace a la Biblioiheque Lauren-
tienne, pp. 22 ff.).

8 See Moore, Studies in Dante, iii, pp. 345 ff. ; and Boffito, L'Epistola
cli Dante Alighieri a Cangrande della Scala, pp. 1-2, and Appendice.

4 See §§ 3 and 9 of his Cc^ento (ed. Cugnoni, pp. 28, 33).

21*5 b

xviii LETTERS OF DANTE

Of special importance is the testimony of the next
witness, Leonardo Bruni of Arezzo (otherwise known as
Leonardo Aretino), the author of the most valuable, from
the critical point of view, of the early lives of Dante.
Bruni was not only the most distinguished humanist of
his day, but as secretary to several Popes l and Chancellor
of the Florentine Republic, and as historian of the
Republic, he was experienced in the handling of State
papers and in the appraisement of documentary evidence,
important qualifications possessed in an equal degree by
no other of the early biographers of Dante. He sets out
to write as a serious historian, with the express purpose
of supplying the practical deficiencies of Boccaccio's bio-
graphy, which he holds to be overburdened with details
of lovers' sighs and tears, and such like trivialities, to the
neglect of the weightier matters of life, as though, he
says, man were born into this world for no other purpose
than to figure in a tale of the Decameron. 2 Bruni's state-

1 As secretary to Pope John XXIII, Bruni was in attendance at
the Council of Constance, where, as Dv. Moore points out (Dante
and his early Biographers, p. 65), he would have met Giovanni da
Serravalle, the translator and commentator of the Divina Commedia,
who is responsible for the interesting but unhappily not otherwise
authenticated statement, that Dante came to England and was
a student at Oxford — a matter to which Bruni makes no reference.

2 ' Mi parve che il nostro Boccaccio, dolcissimo e suavissimo uomo,
cosi scrivesse la vita e i costumi di tanto sublime poeta, come
se a scrivere avesse il Filocolo, o il Filosti*ato, o la Fiammetta ;
perocche tutta d' amore, e di sospiri, e di cocenti lagrime e piena ;
come se 1' uomo nascesse in questo mondo solamente per ritrovarsi
in quelle dieci giornate amorose, nelle quali da donne innamorate
e da giovani leggiadri raccontate furono le cento Novelle ; e tanto
s' infiamma in queste parti d' amore, che le gravi e sustanzievoli
parti della vita di Dante lascia in dietro, e trapassa con silenzio,
ricordando le cose leggieri, e tacendo le gravi. Io dunque mi posi
in cuore per mio spasso scriver di nuovo la vita di Dante, con

INTRODUCTION xix

ments, therefore, as to matters of fact, of which he claims
to have had personal cognizance, are entitled to the
respect due to a writer of established reputation and
authority. Among such statements in his Vita di Bante,
which was written in 1436, by way of diversion, after the
completion of his translation of the Poetics of Aristotle,
and while he was still engaged upon the last books of his
history of Florence, are several of the highest interest
relating to the letters of Dante.

Bruni mentions that he had himself seen several letters
written by Dante's own hand, and he describes the hand-
writing — the only description that has come down to us
— as being ' fine and slender and very accurate ' : ' Di sua
mano egregiamente disegnava. Fu ancora scrittore per-
fetto, ed era la lettera sua magra, e lunga, e molto corretta,
secondo io ho veduto in alcune epistole di sua propria
mano scritte ' — a statement which recurs in another work
of his, the Bidlogus ad Petrum Histrum, where, speaking
of Dante, he says : ' legi nuper quasdam eius litteras quas
ille videbatur peraccurate scripsisse: erant enim propria
manu atque eius sigillo obsignatae'. 'Scrisse molte
epistole in prosa,' he says in his list of the poefs works
in the Vita, and in the course of the work he specifically
mentions or refers to at least half a dozen, giving in the
case of one of them a long quotation in Dante's own
words, 1 and in the case of another the opening sentence.

The first letter mentioned by Bruni is in connexion

maggior notizia delle cose stimabili : ne questo faccio per derogare
al Boccaccio ; ma perche lo scriver mio sia quasi un supplimento
allo scriver di lui.'

1 Bruni gives the quotation in Italian, vvith the remark ' queste
sono le parole sue ' ; but the original, like the rest of Dante's letters
with which we are acquainted, was doubtless written in Latin.

b2

xx LETTERS OF DANTE

with the battle of Campaldino, the decisive victory of the
Florentine Guelfs over the Ghibellines of Arezzo on
June 11, 1289, at which Dante, he says, was present as
a combatant, as he himself relates in a letter in which he
gives an account of the battle, accompanied by a plan of
the operations. 1 The next has reference to Dante's elec-
tion to the Priorate, ' from which ', he states, ' sprang
Dante's exile from Florence and all the adverse fortunes
of his life, as he himself writes in one of his letters, the
words of which are as follows :

All my woes and all my misfortunes had their origin
and commencement with my unlucky election to the
Priorate ; of which Priorate, although I was not worthy
in respect of worldly wisdom, yet in respect of loyalty
and of years I was not unworthy of it ; inasmuch as ten
years had passed since the battle of Campaldino, where
the Ghibelline party was almost entirely broken and
brought to an end ; on which occasion I was present, no
novice in arms, and was in great fear, and afterwards
greatly elated, by reason of the varying fortunes of that
battle.

These are his words.' 2

1 ' Questa battaglia racconta Dante in una sua epistola, e dice
esservi stato a combattere, e disegna la forma della battaglia.'

2 ' Da questo priorato nacque la cacciata sua, e tutte le cose avverse,
cbe egli ebbe nella vita, secondo lui medesimo scrive in una sua
epistola, della quale le parole son queste : "Tutti li mali, e tutti
1' inconvenienti miei dalli infausti comizi del mio priorato ebbero
cagione e principio ; del quale priorato benche per prudenza io non
fussi degno, nientedimeno per fede, e per eta, non ne era indegno,
perocche dieci anni erano gia passati dopo la battaglia di Campal-
dino, nella quale la parte Ghibellina fu quasi al tutto morta
e disfatta, dove mi trovai non fanciullo nell' armi, e dove ebbi
temenza molta, e nella fine grandissima allegrezza, per li vari casi
di quella battaglia." Queste sono le parole sue.'

Bruni mentions this letter also in his account of the battle of

INTRODUCTION xxi

In another letter recorded by Bruni Dante defends
himself from a charge of favouritism during his Priorate
in recalling the exiled Bianchi from Sarzana, while the
Neri remained in banishment at Castello della Pieve.
To this charge, says Bruni, Dante replied that when the
exiles were recalled from Sarzana he was no longer in
office, and consequently could not be held responsible ;
and that moreover this recall was due to the illness and
death of Guido Cavalcanti, who was attacked by malaria
at Sarzana, and succumbed not long after. 1 Bruni then

Campaldino in his Historiae Florentinae : ' Dantes Alagherii poeta in
epistola quadam scribit se in hoc praelio iuvenem fuisse in armis,
et ab initio quidem pugnae, hostem longe superiorem fuisse, adeo
ut a Florentinis multum admodum timeretur. Ad extremum autem
victoriam partam esse, tantamque inimicorum stragem in eo praelio
factam, ut pene eorum nomen ad internecionem deleretur ' (Lib. IV,
p. 63, ed. Argentorati, MDCX).

1 ' Essendo adunque la citta in armi e in travagli, i priori per
consiglio di Dante provvidero di fortificarsi della moltitudine del
popolo ; e quando furono fortificati, ne mandarono a' confini gli
uomini principali delle due sette, i quali furono questi, messer
Corso Donati, messer Geri Spini, messer Giacchinotto de' Pazzi,
messer Rosso della Tosa, e altri con loro. Tutti questi erano per la
parte nera, e furono mandati a' confini al Castello della Pieve in quel
di Perugia. Dalla parte de' Bianchi furon mandati a' confini a
Serezzana messer Gentile, e messer Torrigiano de' Cerchi, Guido
Cavalcanti, Baschiera della Tosa, Baldinaccio Adimari, Naldo di
messer Lottino Gherardini, ed altri. Questo diede gravezza assai
a Dante, e contuttoche lui si scusi, come uomo senza parte, niente-
dimanco fu riputato, che pendesse in parte bianca . . . ; e accrebbe
1' invidia, perche quella parte di cittadini, che fu confinata
a Serezzana, subito ritorno a Firenze, e V altra, ch' era confinata
a Castello della Pieve, si rimase di fuori. A questo risponde Dante,
che, quando quelli di Serezzana furono rivocati, esso era fuori del-
1' uficio del priorato, e che a lui non si debba imputare ; piu dice, che
la ritornata loro fu per 1' infermita e morte di Guido Cavalcanti,
il quale ammalo a Serezzana per 1' aere cattiva, e poco appresso

xxii LETTERS OF DANTE

tells us that after his own exile Dante, in order to obtain
his recall, wrote many letters to individual members of
the Florentine Government, as well as to the people
of Florence (' scrisse piii volte non solamente a' particulari
cittadini del reggimento, ma ancora al popolo'), among
the rest one of some length, beginning ' Popule mee, quid
feci tibi ? ' — a sentence which in a till recently unre-
corded version of Bruni's Vita x is amplified by the com-
pletion of the quotation from Micah vi. 3, into ' Popule
mee, quid feci tibi? aut in quo molestatus [for molestus]
fui responde mihi'. When, however, continues Bruni,
the Emperor Henry VII crossed the Alps, Dante changed
his tone, and began to write in abusive terms to the
Florentines, calling them 'scellerati e cattivi', and
threatening them with the vengeance of the Emperor,
against whose might all resistance would be vain. But
when the Emperor, whose advance against Florence had
been urged by Dante (an obvious allusion to Dante's
letter to the Emperor), actually made his appearance
under its walls, Dante in a further letter expressed his
intention on patriotic grounds of not personally assisting
at the siege of his native city. 2 Finally Bruni refers to
a letter (which may or may not be identical with the

mori.' Dante's term of office expired on August 15, 1300 ; Guido
Cavalcanti was buried at Florence on August 29 ; so that his death
must have taken place within a few days of his return from
exile.

1 See my article on ' An Unrecorded Seventeenth Century Version
of the Vita di Dante of Leonardo Bruni ', in Twenty-Ninth Annual Report
(1912) ofthe Cambridge (U.S.A.) Dante Society.

2 Dante makes no such personal reference in tlie letters to
Henry VII and to the Florentines which have come down to us ;
Bruni must therefore be referring to another letter, addressed
either to the Emperor or to the Florentines.

INTRODUCTION xxiii

letter ' Popule mee ', already mentioned) in which Dante
gives an inventory of his personal possessions in lands
and household goods. 1

Of the letters specified or referred to by Bruni in his
Vita two only are now extant, namely the abusive letter
to the FJorentines (Epist. vi), and that to the Emperor
Henry (Epist. vii). The letter ' Popule mee ' may perhaps
be identified with the first of those mentioned by Villani 2
— that written by Dante to complain of his undeserved
exile from Florence. For the remainder Bruni is our sole
authority.

Giannozzo Manetti, who wrote a life of Dante not many
years after Bruni, of whose Vita he largely availed him-

1 ' Cercando con buone opere e con buoni portamenti riacquistare
la grazia di poter tornare in Firenze per ispontanea rivocazione di
chi reggeva la terra . . . scrisse piii volte non solamente a' particu-
lari cittadini del reggimento, ma ancora al popolo ; e intra V altre
un' epistola assai lunga, che incomincia, Popule mec, quid feci tibi ?
Essendo in questa speranza di ritornare per via di perdono, soprav-
venne 1' elezione d' Arrigo di Luzinborgo Imperadore ; per la cui
elezione prima, e poi la passata sua, essendo tutta Italia sollevata
in speranza di grandissime novita, Dante non pote tenere il pro-
posito suo dell' aspettare grazia, ma levatosi coll' animo altiero
comincio a dir male di quelli che reggevano la terra, appellandoli
scellerati e cattivi, e minacciando loro la debita vendetta per la
potenza dell' Imperadore, contro la quale diceva esser manifesto
che essi non avrebbon potuto avere scampo alcuno. Pure il tenne
tanto la riverenza della patria, venendo 1' Imperadore contro
a Firenze, e ponendosi a campo presso alla porta, non vi volle
essere, secondo lui scrive, contuttoche confortatore fusse stato di
sua venuta. . . .

' Case in Firenze ebbe assai decenti . . . possessioni in Camerata,
e nella Piacentina, e in Piano di Ripoli : suppellettile abbondante
e preziosa, secondo lui scrive/

2 See above, p. xvi. It will be noted that Bruni makes no
reference to the letter to the Italian Cardinals (Epist. viii) mentioned
by Villani.

xxiv LETTERS OF DANTE

self, has no new information to give about the letters in
general. In speaking of Dante's writings he merely
remarks : ' In Latino sermone multas epistolas scripsit.'
He does specify one particular letter, however, elsewhere,
and incidentally in connexion with it he uses a significant
phrase which makes it appear that he must himself have
been acquainted with the letter in question, namely, that
written by Dante to the Florentines sA the time of the
advent of Henry VII into Italy (Epist. vi). Bruni, as we
have seen, states that in this letter Dante wrote abusively
to the Florentines, calling them knaves and scoundrels.
Manetti, who when he follows Bruni usually follows him
so closely as almost to echo his words, in this instance
adds a detail which he could not have derived from
Brunfs Vita. When the Emperor, he says, sat down
before Florence to besiege it, the Florentine exiles flocked
to his camp from all sides, and Dante, full of hope and no
longer able to contain himself, indited an insulting
letter ' to the Florentines within the city, as he himself
calls them' — 'Proinde Dantes quoque se ulterius conti-
nere non potuit, quin spe plenus epistolam quandam ad
Florentinos, ut ipse vocat, intrinsecos contumeliosam sane
scriberet, in qua eos acerbissime insectatur ; quum ante-
hac de ipsis honorificentissime loqui solitus esset '. This
letter, as has already been mentioned, happens to be one
of those which have come down to us. Manetti's refer-
ence to the title of it, which runs: 'Dantes Alagherii
Florentinus et exul immeritus scelestissimis Florentinis
intrinsecis ', is unmistakable, and conveys the impression
that he had a personal knowledge of at least this one of
Dante's letters, though, unlike Bruni, he does not inform
us of the fact. That this was actually the case has
recently been demonstrated by Zenatti in his Dante

INTRODUCTION xxv

e Firenze, 1 where he shows that Manetti was at one time

1 Dante e Firenze: Prose Aniiche con note illustrative ed appendici, di
Oddone Zenatti, pp. 370-5 note, 414-19. In this work (pp. 418-19)
Zenatti contends that Manetti's unmistakable reference to the title
of Dante's letter to the Florentines is proof positive that he had
actually first-hand knowledge of the letter at the time when he
was writing his Vita JDantis ; and he maintains, further, that
Bruni's acquaintance with the letter cannot be regarded as certain
on account of the' vagueness of his reference : ' Dalle vaghe parole
dell' Aretino, malgrado dello scellerati, non e dato di trarre la
certezza, ch' egli abbia propriamente avuto sott' occhio anche
1' epistola ai Fiorentini ; con le sue ora citate, il Manetti ci da invece
la prova piii sicura di aver letta quell' epistola, di averne con
precisione conosciuto il titolo (Scelestissimis) Jtorentinis intrinsecis.'
Torraca, in a review of Zenatti's volume in the Bullettino della Societa
Dantesca Jtaliana (N.S. x. 121 ff.), pointed out that if Manetti read
Dante's letter, at any rate he did not read the date of it (namely,
March 31, 1311), for he states that it was written at the time of the
siege of Florence by the Emperor, whereas, as a matter of fact, the
siege was not begun until the autumn of the following year.
Manetti's authority, however, as I have shown in the Modem
Language Revieio (xiv. 111-12), was not the letter itself, but the follow-
ing passage in Bruni's Historiae Florentinae : ' Herricus . . . superatis
Alpibus, in citeriorem Galliam descendisse nunciabatur, et quid-
quid ubique fuerat exulum Florentinorum, ad illum concurrisse,
adeo spe firma victoriae, ut iam inde bona inimicorum inter se
partirentur. Extat Dantis poetae epistola amarissimis referta con-
tumeliis, quam ipse hac inani fiducia exultans, contra Florentinos,
ut ipse vocat, intrinsecos scripsit. Et quos ante id tempus honori-
ficentissimis compellare solebat verbis, tunc huius spe supra modum
elatus, acerbissime insectari non dubitat ' (Lib. IV, p. 88, ed.
Argentorati, MDCX). No one who compares the phraseology of
this passage with that of the quotation from Manetti's Vita Dantis
given above can have much doubt that this was the source from
which Manettfs account of the letter was derived. This passage
also proves, what Zenatti doubted, that, whether or no Manetti had
a first-hand acquaintance with the letter, Bruni cei*tainly had.
Manetti's acquisition of the MS. containing the letter must have
been subsequent to the compilation of his Vita Dantis, otherwise he
would surely have utilized it for the purposes of his work.

xxvi LETTERS OF DANTE

in possession of a MS. which contained no less than nine
letters written by, or attributed to, Dante, this MS.
being the now famous Vatican MS. (Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat.
IJ29), of which we shall have more to say later. 1

The next piece of evidence is supplied, not by a bio-
grapher of Dante, but by a fifteenth-century historian,
namely Flavio Biondo of Forli, who in his Historiarum
ab inclinato Eomano Imperio Decades, which was com-
pleted in or about the year 1440, states that he had seen
at Forli letters written by Pellegrino Calvi, secretary of
Scarpetta degli Ordelaffi, the Ghibelline leader in Forli,
which had been dictated by Dante, and in which Dante's
name frequently occurs — ' Peregrini Calvi foroliviensis,
Scarpettae epistolarum magistri, extantes literae, crebram
Dantis mentionem habentes, a quo dictabantur ' ; 2 and
in another passage he makes special mention of a letter
written by Dante in his own name and in that of the
exiled Bianchi to Can Grande della Scala at the time of
the advent of the Emperor Henry VII into Italy, in
which Dante gave an account of the insolent reply re-
turned by the Florentines to the ambassadors of the
Emperor — a letter of which, as Biondo tells us, a copy
was taken by Pellegrino Calvi — 'Dantes Aldegerius,
Forolivii tunc agens, in epistola ad Canem Grandem Sca-
ligerum veronensem, partis Albae extorrum et suo
nomine data, quam Peregrinus Calvus scriptam reliquit,
talia dicit de responsione a Florentinis urbem tenentibus
tunc facta *. 3

Of these letters, which must be assigned to the period
of Dante's presumed residence at Forli in 1303 and 1310,

1 See below, pp. xlvii ff.

2 See Bullettino della Societa Daniesca Italiana, No. 8 (1892), p. 22.

3 See Bullettino clella Societa Dantesca Italiana, No. 8 (1892), p. 26.

INTRODUCTION xxvii

no trace has been preserved. Carlo Troya, who drew
attention to these statements of Flavio Biondo with
regard to Dante in his Veltro Allegorko cli Dante (Florence,
1826) x and Veltro Allegorico cle' Ghibellmi (Naples, 1856), 2
records in the latter work that, as the result of exhaustive
inquiries as to the fate of the documents mentioned by
Biondo, he learned that the Ordelaffi papers had been
entrusted to the eharge of a nun of the Ordelaffi family
for safe custody during a period of civil commotion, and
that she, in an evil hour, apparently through fear of
being compromised if they were found in her possession,
had consigned the whole to the fiames. 3

With the next biographer of Dante, Giovanni Mario
Filelfo, the last of the early biographers who has any
addition to make to the information supplied by his pre-
decessors, the number of Daute's letters increases in
a most remarkable manner. Filelfo, who was the son of
the famous humanist Francesco Filelfo, himself a student
and expounder of Dante, wrote his life of Dante, which
is in Latin, in or about the year 1467, as appears from
a letter accompanying a copy of the work written from
Verona in December of that year by Pietro Alighieri,
Dante's great-grandson, to Pietro de' Medici and Tommaso
Soderini in Florence, in which it is referred to as having
been recently completed — 'munusculum hoc nuper mihi
de vita proavi mei Dantis ab eloquentissimo oratore, et
laurea insignito Mario Philelfo editum, Magnificentiis
Vestris mittere decrevi \

In this work, which it may be observed in passing has
a peculiar interest for students of Dante, in that here for
the first time we meet with the theory that Dante's

1 Pp. 60, 125. 2 Pp. 205-6.

3 Veltro Allegorico de' Ghibellini, p. 207.

xxviii LETTERS OF DANTE

Beatrice was a mythical, not a real personage — ahout as
real as Pandora, is the author's way of putting it —
Filelfo makes very free use of the Vita of Leonardo Bruni.
He does not, however, confine himself to merely repeating
what Bruni says, hut embellishes his statements with
characteristic additions of his own. Thus, in his account
of Dante's letter about the battle of Campaldino, he makes
Dante claim not only to have been present, but to have
taken a leading part in the engagement : ' Hanc quidem
et pugnam et victoriam recitat ipse Dantes sua quadam
epistola, declaratque se iisce interfuisse ac praefuisse rebus,
exprimitque omnem eius proelii ordinem.' Again, where
Bruni simply mentions that Dante, in order to obtain his
recall from exile, wrote to individual members of.the
Grovernment as well as to the people of Florence, Filelfo
states that he wrote letters to several particular citizens
whom he believed to be more upright than the rest, and
also sundry very lengthy letters to the Florentine people :
' Patriae gratiam assidue cupiens, plures epistolas nedum
ad nonnullos misit cives, quos intclligeret virtuti dedica-
tiores, sed ad populum longiusculas admodum dedit
litteras.' Bruni's succinct description of Dante's hand-
writing, which has been quoted above, is amplified by
Filelfo into a detailed statement as to Dante*s delight in
the exercise of the pen, and, so far as his ignorance of
Greek would allow, the perfect accuracy of his spelling :

Delectabatur Dantes scribendi forma, et vetustate lit-
terarum, scribebatque litteras modernas, tamen politissi-
mas, sed longiores subtilioresque, ut se illa manu scriptas
fatetur habuisse Leonardus Aretinus, qui fuit earum
diligens inquisitor, sed orthographiam tenebat ad unguem,
quantum poterat, sine litterarum graecarum cognitione,
conficere.

INTRODUCTION xxix

The * many letters ' with which Bruni credits Dante, in
Filelfo's account become 'letters innumerable ', among
which he proceeds to specify three in particular, now
heard of for the first time, which he asserts were ad-
dressed by Dante respectively to the King of Hungary,
to Pope Boniface VIII, and to his own son at Bologna,
of each of which letters he professes to quote the opening
sentences ; and besides these, he adds, Dante wrote other
letters also, too numerous to specify, which are in the
hands of many persons at the present time:

Edidit et epistolas innumerabiles ; aliam cuius est hoc
principium ad invictissimum Hunnorum Regem : ' Magna
de te fama in omnes dissipata, rex dignissime, coegit me
indignum exponere manum calamo, et ad tuam humani-
tatem accedere.' Aliam, cuius est initium rursus ad
Bonifacium Pontificem Maximum : ' Beatitudinis tuae
sanctitas nihil potest cogitare pollutum, quae vices in
terris gerens Christi, totius est misericordiae sedes, verae
pietatis exemplum, summae religionis apex/ Aliam, qua
filium alloquitur, qui Bononiae aberat, cuius hoc est prin-
cipium: 'Scientia, mi fili, coronat homines, et eos con-
tentos reddit, quam cupiunt sapientes, negligunt insi-
pientes, honorant boni, vituperant mali.' Edidit alias,
quas habent multi, mihi quidem est enumerare difficile.

If this very precise and circumstantial account of letters
of Dante, of which no previous writer had made mention,
could have been accepted as authontic, as it was by
Filelfo's editor, Domenico Moreni, and by Pelli, Balbo,
and others, it would have made a most interesting and
valuable addition to our scanty information on the subject.
Unfortunately, however, Filelfo is a writer whose un-
supported assertions it is impossible to regard without
grave suspicion, even when he claims, as he does with
respect to his life of Dante, that he has recorded only

xxx LETTERS OF DANTE

what he knew of his own personal knowledge, or had
seen with his own eyes — ' ea dumtaxat refero, quae certo
scio, quaeque ipse vidi, cetera non ausim affirmare '.
Apart from palpable misstatements of fact, instances of
which have been pointed out by Bartoli and others, 1
there are at least two demonstrable falsifications in this
same work. When he comes to deal with the De
Monarchia and the De VuJgari Eloquentia, in his account
of Dante's writings, Filelfo, as in the case of the three
letters above mentioned, makes a parade of quoting the
beginnings of each of these treatises :

Komano quidem stilo edidit opus, cui Monarchiae dedit
nomen, cuius hoc est principium : ' Magnitudo eius, qui
sedens in throno cunctis dominatur, in caelo stans omnia
videt, nusquam exclusus, nullibi est inclusus, ita dividit
gratia munera, ut mutos aliquando faciat loqui.' Edidit
et opus de Vulgari Eloquentia hoc principio : ' Ut Eomana
lingua in totum est orbem nobilitata terrarum, ita nostri
cupiunt nobilitare suam ; proptereaque difficilius est hodie
recte nostra quam perite latina quidquam dicere.'

A glance at the actual beginnings of the De Monarchia
and De Vulgari Eloquentia will suffice to show that these
alleged quotations by Filelfo do not bear the smallest
resemblance to what Dante really wrote, and are in fact
unblushing fabrications on FilehVs part — fabrications, it
may be explained, in which it was comparatively safe for
him to indulge, in view of the circumstance that the
treatises in question existed only in MS. at that time, 2
and that the MSS. were few and not easily accessible.

1 See Bartoli, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, vol. v, pp. 105-6 ;
and Moore, Dante and his Early Biographers, pp. 95 ff.

2 The De Monarchia was not printed till 1559, and the De Vulgari
Eloquentia (of which an Italian translation by Trissino was published
in 1529) not till 1577.

INTRODUCTION xxxi

Such being the case, we have no alternative but to con-
cltide, as most recent critics have done, that the letters
quoted as Dante's by Filelfo are equally apocryphal. It
is not without significance in this connexion that Filelfo's
best known work, of which no less than eight editions
were printed in the fifteenth century, was an Epistolarium,
seu de arte conficiendi epistolas opus ; ' so that no doubt in
his ' confection ' of these alleged letters of Dante he was
but exercising himself in an art of which he was the
professed exponent.

With Filelfo we take leave of the early biographers of
Dante, subsequent notices, such as those of Landino and
Vellutello, 2 containing nothing, so far as Dante's letters
are concerned, but a repetition in a more or less meagre
form of what had already appeared in the lives of
Boccaccio or of Bruni. 3

It was not till the middle of the sixteenth century that

1 This work contains among other things a complete analysis of
' the eighty possible categories under which epistles can fall '. An
example of each of these categories is given, and to each of them is
subjoined a list of appropriate ' sinonima' or stock pbrases, such as
'sinonima gratulatoria ', 'sinonima postulativa ', 'sinonima vitu-
peratoria', 'sinonima invectiva', and so on. The * exemplum '
under the last heading is ' Es una omnium voce sentina scelerum
cloaca foetidissima ! *

2 Prefixed to their commentaries on the Commedia, first published
respectively at Florence in 1481 and at Venice in 1544.

8 It is interesting, however, to note that Vellutello was acquainted
with Filelfo's life of Dante, of which he did not disdain to avail
himself, though he severely criticizes the author on the score of his
numerous irrelevancies, and of his disbelief in the reality of
Beatrice : ' Scrisse la vita di Dante dopo 1* Aretino, Mario Filelfo in
lingua latina, . . . introducendovi molte cose piu tosto impertinenti
che accomodate alla materia, e negando Beatrice essere stata donna
vera, . . . come ancora molti sciocchi hanno detto di Laura celebrata
dal Petrarca.'

xxxii LETTERS OF DANTE

the first actual text of a letter of Dante was given to
the world. This was in 1547, in which year was
published in Florence a slim quarto of eighty pages,
now exceedingly rare, entitled Prose Antiche di JDante,
Petrarcha et Boccaccio, et di molti altri Nobili et Virtuosi
Ingegni, nuovamente raccolte. The first piece in this
volume, of which the editor, as well as printer, was the
eccentric Anton Francesco Doni, is 'Pistola di Dante
Alighieri Poeta Fiorentino all' Imperator' Arrigo di
Luzimborgo ', and is in fact an Italian translation, in
a very corrupt and mutilated text, of Dante's letter to the
Emperor Henry VII, the Latin original of which, as we
have seen, was known to Villani, Boccaccio, and Bruni.
The last piece but one in the volume is a letter in Italian
'Al Magnifico Messer Guido da Polenta, Signor da Ra-
venna ', dated from Venice, March 30, 1314, and signed
* L' umil servo vostro Dante Alighieri Fiorentino '.

No indication is given by Doni as to the source from
which these two letters were derived. As regards the
genuineness of the Italian translation of the letter to
Henry VII there can be no manner of doubt, inasmuch as
numerous MSS. of it are in existence, and it more or less
closely corresponds with the Latin text as we now have
it. The letter to Guido da Polenta, however, stands on
a very different footing. Not only has no MS. of this
letter ever been heard of, but it bears on the face of it
indubitable proofs of its falsity. The letter, which pur-
ports to be an account of Dante's experiences as envoy of
Guido da Polenta to the Venetian Republic to offer con-
gratulations on the recent election of a new Doge, runs
as follows : l

1 For the original, which is printed among the letters of, or
attributed to, Dante by Witte (Epistola Apocrypha), Torri (Epist. xi),
Fraticelli (Epist. viii), and Giuliani (Epist. iv), see Appendix A.

INTRODUCTION xxxiii

To the Magnificent Messer Guido da Polenta, Lord of
Ravenna.

Anything in the world should I sooner have expected
to see, rather than what I have actually in person seen
and experienced of the character of this exalted govern-
ment. To quote the words of Virgil : ■ Minuit praesentia
famam.' ! I had imagined to myself that I should here
find those noble and magnanimous Catos, those severe
censors of depraved morals, in short everything which
this people, in their most pompous and pretentious
fashion, would have unhappy and afflicted Italy believe
that they themselves specially represent. Do they not
style themselves ' rerum dominos gentemque togatam ' ? 2
Oh truly unhappy and misguided populace, so insolently
oppressed, so vilely governed, and so cruelly maltreated
by these upstarts, these destroyers of ancient law, these
perpetrators of injustice and corruption !

But what am I to say to you of the dense and bestial
ignorance of these grave and reverend signiors ? On
coming into the presence of so ripe and venerable
a council, in order not to derogate from your dignity and
my own authority, I purposed to perform my office as
your ambassador in that tongue, which along with the
imperial power of fair Ausonia is daily declining, and is
ever destined to decline ; hoping perchance to find it
throned in its majesty in this distant corner, hereafter to
be spread abroad with the power of this state throughout
the length and breadth of Europe, at the least. But alas !
I could not have appeared more of a stranger and foreigner
had I but just arrived from remotest Thule in the west.
Nay, I should have been more likely to find an interpreter
of my unknown tongue, if I had come to them from the
fabled Antipodes, than to be listened to here with the
eloquence of Rome upon my lips. For no sooner had
I pronounced a few words of the exordium, which I had
prepared in your name in felicitation of the recent
election of this most serene Doge, namely : ' Lux orta est

1 Actually Claudian, Be Bello Gildonico, 386.

2 Aen. i. 286.

2166 C

xxxiv LETTERS OF DANTE

iusto, et rectis corde laetitia/ * than it was intimated to
me that I must either provide myself with an interpreter,
or speak in another language. Accordingly, whether
more in amazement or indignation I know not, I began
to make a short speech in the tongue which has been mine
from the cradle ; this, however, proved to be hardly more
familiar or native to them than the Latin had been.

Hence it has come about, that instead of being the
bearer to them of joy and gladness, I have been the
sower, in the most fertile field of their ignorance, of
the abundant seeds of wonder and confusion. And it is
no matter for wonder if the Italian tongue is unintelligible
to them, seeing that they are descended from Dalmatians
and Greeks, and have brought no other contribution to
this noble land than the vilest and most shameless prac-
tices, together with the abomination of every sort of
unbridled licentiousness.

I have thought it incumbent on me, therefore, to send
you this brief account of the mission which I have accom-
plished on your behalf ; begging you at the same time,
though you may always command my services, not to
use me further on such like employments, from which you
can look for no credit at any time, nor I for consolation.

I shall remain here for a few days in order to satisfy
the natural appetite of my bodily eyes for the wonders
and attractions of this place ; after which I shall transport
myself to that most welcome haven of my rest, under the
gracious protection of your royal courtesy.

From Venice, this 30th day of March, 1314

Your humble servant, Dante Alighieri of Florence.

Apart from the manifest absurdity of the charge against
the Venetians that they could understand neither Latin
(which was in fact at that time in Venice, as elsewhere in
Italy, the official language of the State) nor Italian, the
following blunders chronological and otherwise have been
pointed out amongst others as fatal to the pretensions of
1 From the Vulgate, Psalm xcvi. 11.

INTRODUCTION xxxv

this letter to be considered authentic. 1 To begin with,
all the available evidence goes to prove that Dante did
not take refuge with Guido da Polenta at Eavenna till
1317 or 1318, that is to say, not till three or four years
after the alleged date (1314) of this embassy to Venice.
Secondly, in the year 1314 Guido da Polenta was not
Lord of Kavenna, as he is styled in the letter, but Podesta
of Cesena. Thirdly, the so-called ' recent election ' of the
Doge (Gian Soranzo) had taken place more than a year
and a half before, namely, on July 13, 1312. Finally,
we have the damning fact that Dante, who claims in the
Commedia that he knew the Aeneid 'tutta quanta', 2 is
made to attribute to Virgil a quotation from Claudian, an
author with whom there is no evidence that he had any
acquaintance. To all of which may be added the further
objections that the letter is written in Italian, instead of in
Latin as we should naturally expect, and that it has a most
decided ' cinquecento ' ring about it, the style being as
unlike Dante's known epistolary style as it could well be.
Doni included Dante's letter to the Einperor Henry,
with other pieces from the Prose Antiche, in a subsequent
work, his Zucca, which he published at Venice in 1552 ;
but he did not reprint the letter to Guido, of which it
has not unnaturally been assumed that he himself was
the fabricator. This letter, nevertheless, was accepted as
genuine by Biscioni, who reproduced it, together with
that to the Emperor, in his Prose di Dante Alighieri e di
Messer Giovanni Boccacci, published at Florence in 1723 ;
and it has also found supporters in Tasso (in his Didlogo
del Forno, published in 1581) and Fontanini, 3 as well as

1 See Bartoli, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, vol. v, pp. 237 ff. ;
and Scartazzini, Dante in Germania, vol. ii, pp. 303 ff.

2 Inf. xx. 113-14. 3 In his Ehquenza Italiana.

XXXVI

LETTERS OF DANTE

in Torri, 1 Fraticelli, 2 and Scheffer-Boichorst, 3 among others
of more recent date.

A few years after the publication of Doni's Prose we
hear from several quarters of the letter to Can Grande
(Epist. x), which, as has already been mentioned, was
utilized by several of the early commentators on the
Commedia, though, with the exception of Filippo Villani,
they make no reference to it by name. 4 Giovan Batista
Gelli, best known as the author of I Capricci del Bottaio
(Englished not long after his death as The Fearfull Fansies
of the Florentine Couper), who delivered a series of public
lectures on Dante before the Florentine Academy at
various times between 1541 and 1563, in a discussion
in his eighth course, in 1562, as to the title Commedia
bestowed by Dante on his poem, recapitulates what he
had said on the subject in a previous lecture, and then
proceeds as follows :

All that I told you on the former occasion as the
expression of my own personal opinion, I to-day repeat to
you as a matter of my own knowledge. For a year or two
ago there came into my hands, through the good offices of
the deceased Tommaso Santini, a fellow citizen of ours,
a letter in Latin, which our Poet sent to the Lord Can
Grande della Scala, Vicar-General of the principality of
Verona and of Vicenza, together with a presentation copy
of the third cantica of his poem, namely the Paradiso.

1 See his Epistole di Danle Allighieri edite e inedite, pp. xvii-xviii, 71.

2 See his Opere minori di Dante, vol. iii, pp. 476 ff. After examining
the arguments on both sides, Fraticelli says : ' Io non affermero che
la lettera appartenga indubbiamente al nostro Alighieri ; ma posti
in bilancia gli argomenti che dall' una e dall' altra parte si
adducono, parmi che preponderino quelli clie stanno per 1' affer-
mativa.'

3 In his Aus Dantes Verbannung ; see Scartazzini, Dante in Germania
vol. ii, pp. 304 ff 4 See above, p. xvii.

INTRODUCTION xxxvii

In which letter he treats of certain matters, with a view
to the better understanding of his purpose in the poem,
and among others of the reason why he gave to it this
title of Commedia. He points out that Comedy differs
from Tragedy in its subject-matter, inasmuch as Tragedy
in its beginning is admirable and quiet, but in its ending
foul and horrible (these being our author's own expres-
sions), whereas Comedy begins with an element of
adversity, but in the end turns out happily — a circum-
stance, he adds, which has given rise to the employment
by some letter-writers of the salutation, ' tragicum princi-
piuni, et comicum finem,' as a substitute for the conven-
tional greeting. Again, he shows that Comedy differs
from Tragedy in the style of its diction, the language of
Tragedy being lofty and inflated, while that of Comedy is
unstudied and homely ; whence he concludes [and Gelli
here quotes the original text of Dante's letter] : * Et per
hoc patet quod Comoedia dicitur praesens opus. Nam si
ad materiam aspiciamus, a principio horribilis et foetida
est, quia Infernus ; in fine prospera, desiderabilis et grata,
quia Paradisus. Ad modum loquendi, remissus est modus
et humilis, quia locutio vulgaris, in qua et mulierculae
comunicant ; et sic patet, quia Comoedia dicitur.' *

Gelli quotes the letter a second time in another lecture,
of which only a fragment has been preserved, in con-
nexion with Dante's scathing apostrophe to Florence at
the beginning of the twenty-sixth canto of the Inferno.
' Not only ', he says, ' did Dante rebuke Florence in this
place, and in numerous other passages in his works, but
he twice in the letter he sent to Can Grande, Lord of
Verona, with a copy of his poem, describes himself in
these terms : " Dantes Alagherius, Florentinus patria, sed
non moribus".' 2

1 Epist. x, 11. 218-25 ; see Letture edite e inedite di Giovan Batista Qelli
sopra la Commedia di Dante, raccolte per cura di Carlo Negroni, vol. ii,
p. 295.

2 Op. cit., vol. ii, p. 515.

xxxviii LETTERS OF DANTE

The Can Grande letter was known also to sundry other
writers on Dante in the sixteenth century, contemporaries
of Gelli (1498-1563), among others to Lodovico Castel-
vetro (1505-71) of Modena, Vincenzo Borghini (1515-80)
of Florence, and Jacopo Mazzoni (1548-98) of Cesena. 1
Castelvetro in his Sposizione di Canti ventinove delV Inferno
di Dante (first published in 1886) identifies the ' Veltro '
of Inferno i. 101 with Can Grande, to whom, he says,
according to Boccaccio in his life of Dante, the poet dedi-
cated the Commedia ; c but ', he continues, ' I have in my
possession a MS. of a letter of Dante's, written in Latin,
which begins "Dantes Aligerius natione fiorentinus, non
moribus, magno Cani etc." ; from which letter it clearly
appears that Dante dedicated to Can Grande, not the whole
poem, but the Paradiso only \ 2 It should be noted that
Castelvetro here misrepresents Boccaccio, who does not
assert positively that Dante dedicated the Commedia as a
whole to Can Grande, but states that opinions differed as
to the dedication, inasmuch as, according to some, Dante
dedicated the Inferno to Uguccione della Faggiuola, the
Purgatorio to Moroello Malaspina, and the Paradiso to
Frederick the Third of Sicily ; while, according to others,
he dedicated the whole poem to Can Grande. 3 Castelvetro
quotes the title of the letter again, in his comment on
Inferno xv. 69, as a proof that Dante obeyed Brunetto
Latini's injunction to dissociate himself from the evil

1 The letter was also quoted by Antonio degli Albizzi (1547-1626)
in his (as yet unpublished) Bisposta al Discorso del Castravilla (see
Barbi, Della Fortuna di Dante nel Cinquecento, p. 102) ; and (later) by
Benedetto Buonmattei (1581-1647) in Quaderno Secondo per le lezioni
su Dante (see Boffito, V Epistola di D. A. a Cangrande della Scala,
p. 3, n. 3).

8 Sposisione, p. 23.

3 Vita di Dante, § 15, ed. Maeri-Leone, p. 72.

INTRODUCTION xxxix

ways of the Florentines — ' Da' lor costumi fa che tu ti
forbi'. 1

Borghini makes use of the letter in his Introduzlone al
Poema di JDante per V Allegoria (first printed in 1855), in
which he quotes long extracts from the letter in the
original Latin, namely §§ 7 and 8, and parts of §§ 15 and
16, to show with what object Dante wrote the Commedia,
and the various senses in which he meant it to be inter-
preted ; and part of § 32 for Dante's explanation why he
did not continue his exposition of the poem, his reason
being the 'rei familiaris angustia'. 2 Borghini says that
the text of the letter as seen by him (which he evidently
emended in the passages he has quoted) was so corrupt as
to be hardly intelligible ; R and after stating that it was at
that time known to many persons (*in mano di molti'),
he observes that by some of the old commentators on the
Commedia the letter was prefixed to their commentary as
the author's own preface to his poem — an interesting
observation, which, however, is not confirmed by our
present knowledge of the early commentaries. 4

Mazzoni's mention of the letter occurs in the Introdut-
tione e Sommario of the first volume of his celebrated Difesa
di Dante, which was published at Cesena in 1587. In his
summary of the contents of the last chapter of the first

1 Inf. xv. 69, in Sposizione, p. 199.

2 See Stucli sulla Divina Commedia di Galileo Galilei, Vincenzo Borghini,
ed altri ; pubblicati per cura ed opera di Ottavo Gigli, pp. 155-7,
160.

3 ' Detta Epistola, che io ho veduta, e tanto scorretta, che a pena
si puo leggere ' (op. cit., p. 155).

4 This observation may possibly have been suggested to Borghini
by the Prae/atio incerti Auctoris, which accompanies the letter in some
of the MSS., and was first printed by Baruffaldi in 1700 (see below,
p. xli).

xl LETTERS OF DANTE

book l he says : ' It is shown in this chapter that Dante's
poem was composed by him in the form of a vision, as he
himself has openly declared in his Vita Nuova, as well as
in a Latin letter which he sent to Cane della Scala,
explaining the purpose of the third cantica of his poem ;
which letter was sent to me from Florence a few days ago
by Signor Domenico Mellini, a most worthy gentleman
and lover of letters.'

(JWIe then proceeds to excuse himself from discussing the
letter at that point, on the ground that it was his intention
to speak of it at length in his second volume. This
second volume, however, which was not published till
1688, ninety years after Mazzoni's death, unfortunately
contains no reference to the letter ; whence it has been
concluded either that his projected disquisition on the
subject was never written, or that it was suppressed by
his editor.

In the seventeenth century we find notice for the
first time of the existence of the Latin text of the letter
to the Emperor Henry VII. This occurs in the notes
(first printed in 1636) on the De Rcbus Gfestis Henrici
Septimi of Albertino Mussato by Lorenzo Pignoria of
Padua (1571-1631), who states that he had in his own
possession a MS. of this text ; he identifies the letter with
that mentioned by Villani, and with that printed in
Italian by Doni, and promises to publish it — a promise
which remained unfulfilled.

'Dantes vatum clarissimus,' he writes, 'hisce diebus
epistolam scripsit Henrico, quam nacti in. pervetusto
codice, nostro manuscripto publici iuris facere decrevimus,

1 In § 90 (numbered on the margin) of the Introduttione e Sommario,
whieh is not paged in the original 1587 edition.

INTRODUCTION xli

et describi curavimus seorsum in calce spicelegii nostri,
cum aliis nonnullis eiusdem aevi monumentis ; et eiusdem
epistolae meminit Iobannes Villanus, lib. 9, cap. 35.
Quam etiam Italice redditam vidimus et editam Florentiae,
anno 1547.' *

In the last year of this century (1700) the complete
text of the letter to Can Grande was published at Venice
in a literary periodical called La Galleria di Minerva? to
which it had been communicated two years before by
Girolamo Baruffaldi, sub-librarian of the public library at
Ferrara, this being the first letter of Dante to be given to
the world in the original Latin. In his dedicatory note
to Giulio Cesare Grazzini, secretary of the Academy of
the Intrepidi of Ferrara, Baruffaldi states that the letter,
which he describes as ' una antica e non pubblicata Pistola
del divino Dante Alighieri ', had been discovered a short
time previously in a MS. in the collection of the well-
known scholar and physician of Ferrara, Giuseppe
Lanzoni (1663-1730), who had obligingly placed it at his
disposal. Baruffaldi printed at the head of the letter
a Praefatio incerti Auctoris, which runs as follows :

It was customary in former times for writers to prefix
to their works a few introductory remarks, which the
briefer they were, the more quickly they led up to the
subject of the work in question, especially in the case of
authors who were not gifted with the elegant and correct
style of diction proper to professed teachers of rhetoric.
I will hasten, therefore, to acquit myself of my task, lest,
while studying to avoid prolixity, I should fall into that
very fault. Suffice it then that in lieu of preface I present
the reader with what the Poet wrote to Messer Cane, to
whom he dedicated this third cantica, whereby his inten-

1 See Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, x. 385.

2 Vol. iii, pp. 220-8.

xlii LETTERS OF DANTE

tion in the poem may the more easily be comprehended
from the observations to which he himself gave expression
in the following form. 1

This preface, which occurs in four of the six known
MSS., 2 was reprinted by the eighteenth-century editors,
but it has been discarded by the more recent editors of the
letters of Dante.

The text of the letter as printed in the Galleria di
Minerva was full of blunders, due either to the original
scribe or to the copyist of the Lanzoni MS. ; and in this
corrupt form it continued to be reproduced for more than
a hundred years. It may be mentioned that a collation
with this text of the passages recorded above as having
been quoted by Gelli and Borghini shows that the latter
were not derived from the same MS. as the BarufYaldi
text.

Later in this century we get the first accession to the
list of letters hitherto recorded. This consists of the
letter to the Princes and Peoples of Italy (Epist. v), in
an Italian version, which was printed in a collection of
letters of the eleventh, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
centuries, published at Rome in 1754 by Pietro Lazzari

1 ; Praefari aliqua in initio cuiusque operis sui antiquitas con-
suevit, quae quanto pauciora fuerint, tanto ocius ad rem, de qua
agitur, aditus fiet, praesertim cui curae non erit exquisita, et
accurata locutio, quae docentibus eloquentiam convenit. Expediam
igitur illico, ne dum studeo devitare prolixitatem, in illam ipsam
incurrerim. Satis igitur mihi erit in loco, vice prohemii fore con-
sultum, si quae Poeta rescribens Domino Cani, cui hanc canticam
tertiam dedicavit, pro ipsa praefationo indiderim : quo melhis
Poetae intentio ab eiusdem observationibus intelligatur ; quae sub
hac forma fuere. . . . '

2 It is omitted in the two earliest (Cent. XV) MSS. See Bullettino
della Societa JDantesca Italiana, N.S., xvi. 23-5 ; and below, p. 160, n. 1.

INTRODUCTION xliii

from MSS. in the library of the Jesuits' College at Kome. 1
Lazzari states that the MS. in which the letter occurs
contained also the Italian version of Dante's letter to the
Emperor, as well as Marsilio Ficino's translation of the
De Monarchia, extracts from the Vita Nuova, and Bruni's
lives of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. He remarks
that the text of the letter to the Emperor differs to some
extent from that printed by Biscioni, 2 from which he
concludes, rightly as we now know, that both that letter
and the one he now prints for the first time were
originally written in Latin.

In 1788 Giovan Jacopo Dionisi of Verona printed in
the fourth volume of his series of Aneddoti* sundry
variants from a MS., at that time in the Cocchi collection,
now in the Chapter Library at Verona, of the letter to
Can Grande ; and two years later (1790) he printed for
the first time, in the fifth volume of the same series, the
Latin text of yet another letter of Dante, nainely, the
letter to a Florentine friend. 4 This letter was discovered
at Florence in the now famous Laurentian MS., 5 usually
known as the Zibdldonc Boccaccesco. The contents of this
MS. had been described by Bandini in the volume of
his catalogue of the MSS. in the Laurentian Library 6

1 Miscellaneorum ex MSS. libris Bibliothecae Collegii Romani Societatis
Jesu tomus primus (pp. 189-44).

2 In Prose di Dante Alighieri e di Messer Giovanni Boccacci, -published
at Florence in 1723 (see above, p. xxxv).

3 Vol. iv, p. 19.

4 Vol. v, pp. 176-7.

5 Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8.

c Angelo Maria Bandini (1726-1800); liis Catalogus Codicum MSS,
Graecorum, Latinorum, et Italorum Bibliothecae Mediceae-Laurentianae was
published at Florence in eight folio volumes in 1764-78; his
description of MS. xxix. 8 occurs in vol. ii, pp. 9-28 (see Troya,
Del Veltro Allegorico di Dante, pp. 202-3).

xliv LETTERS OF DANTE

published in 1775, but he does not appear to have had
any inkling as to the authorship of the letter, which,
together with two others in the same MS., he registered
as anonymous. The Abate Mehus, however, who a few
years before (in 1759) had printed in his Vita Ambrosii
Camaldulensis the much discussed letter of Frate Ilario
from this same MS., recognized Dante as the author of
the letter to a Florentine friend, and communicated the
fact to Dionisi, who printed it accordingly. 1 His original
text in the Aneddoti having been very imperfect, Dionisi
subsequently issued an emended text in his JPreparazione
istorica e critica alla nuova edmone di Bante Allighieri, 2
which was published at Verona in 1806. Twenty years
later (in 1826) Carlo Troya made a fresh examination of
the letters in the Laurentian MS., and satisfied himself
that not only the letter to a Florentine friend, but also
the other two letters, which immediately precede it in the
MS., and which Bandini had catalogued as anonymous,
were written by Dante. In the former of these two
letters, which is headed Gardinalibus Ytalicis B. de
Florentia, he recognized the letter mentioned by Villani
as having been written by Dante to the Italian Cardinals
after the death of Clement V. The second letter is headed
Exulanti Pistoriensi florentinus exul immeritus, the addressee
of which Troya identified with Dante's friend, Cino da
Pistoja, an identification which has been generally
accepted, as has that of the Florentine ' exul immeritus '
with Dante himself. Troya's famous Veltro Allegorico di
Bante being at that time on the eve of publication, he was
unable to include these two new letters in that work, but
he announced his discovery in the book, and by way of

1 See Troya, Del Veltro Allegorico di Dante, pp. 203-4.
* Vol. i, pp. 71-3.

INTRODUCTION xlv

specimen printed the first few paragraphs of the letter to
the Cardinals in an Appendix. 1

Besides the letters of Dante and of Frate Ilario this
Laurentian MS. contains the poetical correspondence of
Dante and Giovanni del Virgilio. It has recently been
established by Henri Hauvette that these portions of the
MS. are in the handwriting of Boccaccio, 2 who, as we
have already stated, made use in his Vita di Bante of the
letter to a Florentine friend, and also, it may here be
added, of the letter of Frate Ilario in the same work.

In 1827, the year following Troya's announcement of
his discovery in the Laurentian MS., appeared the first
attempt at a collected edition of the letters of Dante.
This was Karl Witte's Dantis Alligherii Epistolae quae
exstant, which was printed privately, in sixty copies only, 3
at Padua in that year. The contents of this volume, the
idea of which seems to have been suggested to Witte by
the desire for such an edition expressed nearly a hundred
years before by Fontanini in his Eloquenza Italianaf were
as follows, there being seven letters in all :

1. The Latin text of the letter to Cino da Pistoja
(Epist. iii (iv)), now printed for the first time from a copy
supplied by Sebastiano Ciampi from the Laurentian MS.

2. The Italian translation of the letter to the Princes
and Peoples of Italy (Epist. v), first printed by Lazzari at
Kome in 1754.

1 Del Veltro AUegorico di Dante, pp. 204-5, 214-16.

2 See above, p. xvii, n. 2.

3 'In nur 60 verschenkten Exemplaren,' wrote Witte of this
volume in his article Neu aufgefundene Briefe des Dante Allighieri,
published in 1838 in Blatterfiir literarische Unterhaltung (Nos. 149-51),
and reprinted in Dante-Forschungen, vol. i, pp. 473-87.

4 See Witte, Dantis Alligherii Episiolae quae exstant, p. 4 n. : ' Una ut
ederentur [Dantis Epistolae], iam Fontaninus (Eloqu. ital. Ven.
1737, p. 154) desideravit.'

xlvi LETTERS OF DANTE

3. The Latin text of the letter to the Emperor Henry
VII (Epist. vii), now printed for the first time from
a MS. in the Biblioteca Marciana at Venice. Witte's
attention having been drawn to the fact that extracts
from this letter in Latin were printed in the catalogue of
the Biblioteca Muranese, search was made at his instance
through the good. ofnces of the Marchese Gian Giacomo
Trivulzio, with the result that the MS. containing the
letter was discovered by the Abate Giovanni Antonio
Moschini, the Prefetto of the Biblioteca Marciana,
whither the spoils of the Murano Library had been
transferred. Besides the Latin text, Witte included an
emended text of the Italian translation of the same letter,
which had been first printed by Doni in 1547.

4. The Latin text of the letter to the Italian Cardinals
(Epist. viii), now first printed in full from the Laurentian
MS. The lirst few paragraphs of this letter were, as we
have seen, printed by Troya in his Veltro Allegorico in
1826. The remainder was copied and printed by Witte
himself in the same year in the Antologia of Florence ; ■
and he now printed a revised and emended text of the
whole letter.

5. The Latin text (revised) of the letter to a Florentine
friend (Epist. ix), first printed by Dionisi at Verona in
1790.

6. The Latin text (with numerous emendations) of the
letter to Can Grande (Epist. x), first printed in full by
Baruffaldi at Venice in 1700.

7. The apocryphal letter, as Witte does not hesitate to
pronounce it, 2 to Guido da Polenta, first printed by Doni
in 1547.

1 Vol. xxiii, p. 57. 2 He heads it < Epistola Apocrypha \

INTRODUCTION xlvii

In 1837, ten years after the appearance of Witte's
volume, occurred what is undoubtedly the most important
event yet recorded in the history of the letters of Dante ;
namely, the discovery in the Vatican Library, by a German
student named Theodor Heyse, while collating MSS. of
the Bivina Commedia on behalf of Witte, of a fourteenth-
century MS. containing no less than nine letters directly
or indirectly attributed to Dante. The history of this
MS. , which, besides the letters of D,ante,contains Petrarch's
twelve eclogues and Dante's De Monarcliia, 1 so far as
it has been possible to trace it, is briefly as follows. It
was executed in the fourteenth century, 2 apparently for
Francesco da Montepulciano, of the family of the
Piendibeni of that place, 3 a Tuscan notary of some dis-
tinction, the friend and correspondent of Coluccio Salu-
tati, the Florentine Chancellor, and successor of Filippo
Villani in the Chancellorship of Perugia, who at the end
of the Eclogues has written his name and the date,
Perugia, 20 July, 1394. 4 Francesco da Montepulciano
left his books to the Capitular Library of the Cathedral of
Montepulciano, the greater part of which was destroyed

1 This was one of the MSS. which was utilized by Witte in his
edition of the treatise published at Vienna in 1874 (see p. lviii).

2 O. Zenatti was of opinion that the original compiler of the
collection contained in this MS. was Boccaccio (see his Dante
e Firense, pp. 458 ff. ; see also Bulletlino della Societd Dantesca Italiana,
N.S. x. 139).

3 To give him his full description, Francesco di Ser Jacopo di
Ser Piendibene da Montepulciano (see F. Novati, Epistolario di
Coluccio Salutati, iii. 312, n. 2 ; and 0. Zenatti, Dante e Firense,
pp. 378 ff).

4 Francisci de Montepolitiano. Expleui corrigere 20 Iulii Perusii 1394
(see Witte, Dante-Forschungen, vol. i, p. 474; and Zenatti, Dante
e Firenze, p. 374). For an enumeration of the portions of the MS.
in the handwriting of Francesco, see Zenatti, op. cit., p. 378.

xlviii LETTERS OF DANTE

by fire in 1539 ; * but this MS. by some chance before
that date had come into the possession of the Florentine
scholar and biographer of Dante, Giannozzo Manetti
(1396-1459), 2 whence it eventually passed into the col-
lection of the celebrated bibliophile, Ulrich Fugger (1526-
84), 3 son of Kaimund Fugger, one of the famous
merchant-princes of Augsburg. Ulrich Fugger, whose
extravagance in the matter of books was such that at one
time his family obtained a decree to restrict his expen-
diture, as is well known, became a Protestant, and to
escape persecution took refuge in the Rhenish Palatinate
and settled at Heidelberg, where he died in 1584, leaving
his extensive collection of MSS. to the library of that city.
After the capture of Heidelberg by Tilly in 1622, the
most valuable portion of the library, consisting of nearly
two hundred cases of MSS., was presented by Maximilian I
of Bavaria, in return for the papal support, to Pope
Gregory XV, and was transferred to Eome and incor-
porated in the Vatican Library, under the superintendence
of Leone Allacci. 4 Among the MSS. thus removed to the

1 See F. Novati, Le Epistole di Dante, in Lectura Dantis: Le Opere
Minori di D.A., p. 300.

2 See Zenatti, Dante e Firenze, pp. 370-5 note, 414-19.

3 See Zenatti, 02?. cit., pp. 372-4 note.

4 Allacci, who was subsequently librarian of the Vatican (1661-
69), has left an interesting account of this transaction (see
Curzio Mazzi, Leone Allacci e la Palatina di Heidelberg, Bologna, 1893).
Some idea of the extent of the collection may be gathered from the
fact that Allacci estimated that the covers alone, which to facilitate
transport he caused to be stripped from the MSS., amounted to
thirteen wagon-loads : <Lo sgravamento delle coperte,' he writes,
' e stato tanto necessario, poiche importava tanto e con 1' occupar il
luogho et il peso (poiche, se si fosse fatto altrimenti, saria stato
impossibile la condotta), poiche importava tanto quanto li doi terzi
delli libri che mecho conduco. E per mia curiosita ho posto da

INTRODUCTION xlix

Vatican were many which had formed parfc of the Fugger
collection, one of them being this MS. 1 containing the nine
letters attributed to Dante discovered by Heyse.

Witte, having received copies of the letters from Heyse,
wrote an account of them, with copious (translated) ex-
tracts, in an article entitled Neu aufgefundene Briefe des
Bante Allighieri, 2 which appeared in Blatter fur literarische
Unterhaltung in May, 1838, and prepared to edit and
publish them. But while he was engaged upon the work
his portfolio containing the transcript of the letters was
stolen from him, and it was more than two years before
he could succeed in getting fresh copies made. 3 In the
meantime, attention having been directed to the MS. by
the publication of Witte's article, one of the employes at
the Vatican Library, Massi by name, took copies of the
letters on his own account with the intention of fore-
stalling Witte's projected edition. Massi, however, was
unable to obtain the necessary imprimatur, and he then
(in the autumn of 1841) offered his copies to Alessandro
Torri of Pisa, who had been for some time engaged upon

parte tutte quelle coperte, per veder quanto luogho occupavano
e quanto pesavano, e trovai che non bastavano mancho tredici carri,
e fu giudicato che pesassero passa duecento centinara' (pp. cit.,
p. 25).

1 Now Cod. Vaticano-Palatino Latino 1729.

2 In this article Witte omitted to mention the name of the
student to whom the discovery was due, an omission which he did
not repair until four years later, in 1842, in which year he
acknowledged his indebtedness to Heyse in the Appendix to the
second part of Dante AlighierVs lyrische Gedichte, ubersetzt und erkldrt
von K. L. Kannegiesser und K. Witte (p. 234).

8 For this second transcript Witte was indebted once more to
Heyse (see Le Lettere di Dante scoperte dal Signor Teodoro Heyse, in
vol. ii, p. 701, of Niccolo Tommaseo's edition of the Divina Commedia,
Milano, 1865).

?16P f\

1 LETTERS OF DANTE

an edition of the minor works of Dante. Torri availed
himself of the offer, and forthwith proceeded to Rome for
the purpose of collating the copies with the original MS.
in the Vatican. Having satisfied himself as to their
accuracy, he included the nine letters in his volume,
Epistole di Dante Allighieri edite e inedite, which was
published at Leghorn at the end of the following year
(1842). * It should be mentioned that before the publica-
tion of Torri's volume Witte had printed the text of one
of the letters in the Vatican MS. in an Appendix to
the second volume of Dante Alighieri y s lyrische Gedichte, 2
published by Karl Ludwig Kannegiesser and himself at
Leipzig earlier in the same year.

Of the letters contained in the Vatican MS. all except
one, namely that to the Emperor Henry VII, were now
made known for the first time, or for the first time in the
original Latin text. The letters, in the order of their
occurrence in the MS., are as follows :

1. To the Emperor Henry VII (Epist. vii), the Latin
text of which had been printed by Witte in his collected
edition in 1827 from the Marcian MS.

2. To the Florentines (Epist vi) — 'scelestissimis FJoren-
tinis intrinsecis ', the title and contents of which prove it
to be the abusive letter mentioned by Bruni and Manetti
as having been written by Dante to the Florentines after
the coming of Henry VII into Italy. 3

3. 4, 5. Three short letters written in the name of
a Countess of Battifolle to Margaret of Brabant, wife of
the Emperor Henry (Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***).

1 See Witte's article, Torris Ausgabe von Dantes Briefen, in Dante-
Forschungen, vol. i, pp. 489-90 ; and Torri, op. cit., pp. vii-viii.
a Pp. 235-6.
8 See above, pp. xxii-v.

INTRODUCTION li

6. To the Counts Oberto and Guido da Eomena
(Epist. ii).

7. To the Marquis Moroello Malaspina (EpisL iv (iii)),
this being the letter mentioned above as having been
printed by Witte in Dante's lyrisclie Gedichte. 1

8. To the Cardinal Niccolo da Prato (Epist. i).

9. To the Princes and Peoples of Italy (Epist. v), which
had been printed in an Italian version by Lazzari in 1754.

Of these nine letters, five are definitely ascribed to
Dante by name in the MS. ; while it is evident, from the
places assigned to them in the midst of the others, that
the remaining four, namely the three to the Empress
and that to the Cardinal Niccolo, were regarded by the
compiler of the collection as having been written by
Dante.

With Torri's edition of the letters finality was reached
so far as numbers are concerned. This total consisted of
fourteen letters, which was made up of/the three from the
Laurentian MS., the nine from the Vatican MS., the letter
to Can Grande, and the letter to Guido da Polenta ; that
is to say, his edition included the ten letters now usually
accepted as Dante's (Epistles i to x in the Oxford Dante),
together with the three Battifolle letters, as to which
doubts still exist, 2 and the Polenta letter, now almost
universally recognized as a falsification.

In 1857 Fraticelli published at Florence a revised
edition of the letters, in which were embodied sundry
emendations, the results of a fresh collation of the MSS. by

1 See p. 1, n. 2.

2 For the arguments in favour of their having been written by
Dante, see Moore, The 'BattifoUe' Letters sometimes attributed to Danie,
in Modern Language Review, ix. 173-89 (reprinted in Studies in
Dante, Fourth Series).

(12

lii LETTERS OF DANTE

Witte ; x which, however, were by no means always im-
provements, for textual criticism, in spite of Witte's
reputation as critic and editor, was not altogether his
strongest point.

In 1882 Giuliani published, also at Florence, an edition of
all the letters, 2 with characteristic emendations of his own ;
while from time to time, in the course of the last sixty
years or so, critical or diplomatic texts of individual letters
have been printed by various editors, for example, by Torri-
celli (Epist v), 3 Muzzi (Epist. iii (iv), viii, ix), 4 Zenatti (Epist.
i, iv (iii)), 6 Torraca (Epist. iv (iii)), 6 Della Torre (Epist. ix), 7

1 Fraticelli writes in his Proemio : ' II dotto alemanno prof. Witte
. . . non pago di quanto avea fatto la prima volta, volle di nuovo
riscontrare i codici e confrontare le varie lezioni ; e nuovamente
portando il suo esame critico sopra ogni frase ed ogni parola del
testo, pote rettificare molti passi disordinati, rendere intelligibili
varie frasi oscure, e correggere parecchi e pareechi errori. E quan-
tunque del suo accurato lavoro avess* egli determinato valersi per
una ristampa, pure per un tratto d' impareggiabil cortesia ha
voluto esserne con me liberale, affinche io me ne giovassi per
1' edizione presente. La lezione dunque del testo latino, che or
per me si produce, e interamente al Witte dovuta ' {Opere Minori di
Dante, ed. 1893, vol. iii, p. 408). In 1855 Witte printed from
a fifteenth-century MS. at Munich an improved text of the first
four paragraphs of the letter to Can Grande (Epist x) (see Dante-
Forschungen, vol. i, pp. 500-7), of which Fraticelli does not appear
to have availed himself.

2 In the second volume of his Opere Latine di Dante (pp. 1-73).

3 In the Antologia di Fossombrone for October 22, 1842 (see my
article on The S. Pantaleo Text of Dante's Letters to the Emperor Henry
VII, and to the Princes and Peoples of Italy, in Modern Language Review,
vol. vii, p. 215, n. 1).

4 In Tre Epistole Latine di Dante Allighieri, Prato, 1845.

5 In Dante e Firenze, pp. 359-60, 431-2.

6 In BuUettino della Societd Dantesca Italiana, N.S., x. 143.

7 In Bullettino della Societd Dantesca Italiana, N.S., xii. 122-3.

INTRODUCTION liii

Boffito (Epist. x), 1 Novati (Epist. iv (iii)), 2 Kostagno (Epist.
viii), 3 and Parodi (Epist. iii (iv)). 4

In 1895 Barbi drew attention in the Bullettino della
Societa Bantesca Italiana 5 to yet another MS., the fourth,
containing letters of Dante. This was the fourteenth-
century San Pantaleo MS. in the Biblioteca Vittorio
Emanuele at Kome, 6 which had been registered by Colomb
de Batines in his Bibliografia Bantesca 7 fifty years before,
but had strangely been overlooked by all the editors of the
letters.

During the last few years diplomatic texts of the two
letters contained in this San Pantaleo MS., of the one in
the Venetian MS., of the nine in the Vatican MS., and of
the three in the Laurentian MS., together with emended
texts of ten of the letters (viz. Epist. iii (iv), v, vi, vii, viii,
ix, x, and the three Battifolle letters), have been printed in
the Modern Language Beview 8 by the present writer, with
a view to the improvement of the text in the Ox/ord
Bante, and as a preparation for the present edition.

The critical edition of the letters, undertaken by the
Italian Dante Society, which was entrusted originally to
Novati, 9 and, since his death, to Pistelli (who recently

1 In Memorie deUa Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, Serie ii,
tom. lvii.

3 In Dante e la Lunigiana, pp. 518-20.

3 In Sul Testo della Lettera di Dante ai Cardinali Italiani, in La Biblio-
filia (November, 1912).

4 In Bullettino della Societa Dantesca Italiana, N.S., xix. 271-2.

5 N.S., ii. 23 n.

6 Cod. S. Pantaleo 8.

7 Vol. ii, pp. 208-9.

8 For a list of these articles, see Preface, p. v, n. 2.

9 Novati published an article on Le Epistole di Dante in Lectura
Dantia: Le Opere Minori di D. A., Firenze, 1906 (pp. 285-310) ; and

liv LETTERS OF DANTE

printed trial texts of Epist. vii and ix), 1 is still awaited,
and now, owing to the war, is not likely to see the light
for some time after the latest term originally fixed by the
Society, namely, the sixth centenary of the death of Dante
in September, 1921. 2

another on V Epistola di Dante a Moroello Malaspina in Dante e la Luni-
giana, Milano, 1909 (pp. 507-42).

1 In the Appendix (pp. 199-221) to Piccola Antologia della Bibbia
Volgata, con Introduzioni e Note, per cura di Ermenegildo Pistelli,
Firenze, 1915.

2 The foregoing Introduction, being concerned mainly with the
history of the text of the letters, contains no mention (save inciden-
tally) of translations and critical essays. As regards translations —
Italian versions are included in the editionsof the letters published
by Fraticelli (Firenze, 1840, 1857, &c.) and by Torri (Livorno, 1842) ;
there is a German translation by Kannegiesser (Leipzig, 1845) ;
and there are two English translations, one by the late C. S. Latham
{Dante^s Eleven Letters, Boston, 1891), the other by P. H. Wicksteed
(in Translation of the Latin Works of Dante, London, 1894). Further
details as to these and other translations are given in the intro-
ductory notes prefixed to each letter in the body of the work.
Critical essays are numerous ; deserving of special mention here are
the article by the late A. Della Torre on ' L'Epistola all' Amico
Fiorentino', in Bullettino della Societa Dantesca Italiana, N.S., xii.
121-74 ; that by the late F. Novati in the volume Lectura Dantis :
Le Opere Minori di Dante Alighieri (Firenze, 1906) ; and two by the late
Dr. Edward Moore, on 'The Epistle to Can Grande' (in Studies in
Dante. Third Series. Oxford, 1903), and on 'The Battifolle Letters '
(in Studies in Dante. Fourth Series. Oxford, 1917). References to
many other articles of importance will be found in the admirable
indices to the volumes of the BuUettino della Societd Dantesca Italiana,
edited originally by M. Barbi, and latterly by E. G. Parodi.

%* Since the above Introduction was written (1916) another text
of the Epistolae has been published, viz. that contained in the edition
of Dante's Latin prose works issued at Florence in 1917 by
G. Barbera (see below, p. 2, n. 1). This text, which, as is acknow-
ledged in the Avvertenza prefixed to the volume, is largely based
upon the texts printed by me in the Modern Language Review, is
reproduced withoUt alteration in the edition of Tutte le Opere di Dante
issued by the same firm two years later.

LIST OF LETTERS

Epistle i (' Praeceptis salutaribus monitV).

To the Cardinal Niccolo da Prato [1304].
Epistle ii (' Patruus vester Alexander').

To the Counts Oberto and Guido da Roinena [1304].
Epistle iii (iv) (' Eructuavit incendium').

To a Pistojan Exile [c. 1305].

Epistle iv (iii) (' Ne lateant dominum').

To the Marquis Moroello Malaspina [c. 1309].
Epistle v (' Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile ').

To the Princes and Peoples of Italy [Sept. or Oct., 1310].
Epistle vi (' Aeterni pia providentia Regis ').

To the Florentines [March 31, 1311].

Epistle vii (' Immensa Dei dilectione testante '). V/
To the Emperor Henry VII [April 17, 1311].

Epistle vii* (' Gratissima regiae Benignitatis epistoW).
To the Empress Margaret [April, 1311].

Epistle vii** (' Regalis epistolae documenta').
To the Empress Margaret [April or May, 1311].

Epistle vii*** (' Quum pagina vestrae Serenitatis').
To the Empress Margaret [May 18, 1311].

Epistle viii (' Quomodo sedet sola civitas ').

To the Italian Cardinals [May or June, 1314].
Epistle ix (' In literis vestris ').

To a Friend in Florence [May, 1315].
Epistle x (* Inclyta vestra£ Magnificentiae laus ').

To Can Grande della Scala [c. 1319].

y

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA

Page 1, n. 1,/or Introduction read see Introduction, pp. xlvii ff.
Page 65, 1. 16, for Modern Language Review, xiv. 111-12 read Intro-

duction, p. xxv, n. 1.
Page 92, n. 1, for (§ 15, I. 6). read (§ 15, 1. 6),
Page 98, n. 2, after Introduction insert p. xxvi.
Page 107, n. 8, after Introduction insert p. xxvi.
Page 161, 1. U,for 9. Fraticelli read 10. Fraticelli.

1. 15, for 10. Giuliani (1861) etc. read 9. Giuliani

(1856) : in Del Metodo di commentare la Divina Commedia (Savona,

1856 ; pp. xviii-xlvi) ; reprinted (with corrections) in

Metodo di commentare la Commedia di Dante Allighieri (Firenze,

1861 ; pp. 14-40).
Page 162, 1. 16, for 3. Fraticelli read 4. Fraticelli.

1. 17,/or 4. Giuliani (1861) etc. readS. Giuliani (1856) :

in Del Metodo di commentare la Divina Commedia (pp. xix-xlvii) ;

reprinted (with corrections) in Metodo di commentare la Com-

media di Dante AUighieri (pp. 15-41).

EPISTOLA I

('Praeceptis salutaribus mo?iiti')
To the Cardinal Niccolo da Prato

[1304]

MSS. — This letter has been preserved in one MS. only,
Cod. Vaticano-Palatino Latino 1729 (Cent. xiv) in the Vatican \
which contains, besides Dante's De Monarchia 2 , and Petrarch's
twelve Eclogues, nine letters attributed to Dante, viz. (in the
order in which they occur in the MS.): to the Emperor
Henry VII (Epist. vii) ; to the Florentines (Epist. vi) ; three
to the Empress Margaret of Brabant (the so-called Battifolle
letters 3 ); to the Counts Oberto and Guido da Romena (Epist. ii) ;
to Moroello Malaspina (Epist. iv (iii)) 4 ; to the Cardinal Niccolo
da Prato (Epist. i) ; and to the Princes and Peoples of Italy
(Epist. v).

Printed Texts.— 1. A. Torri (1842): Epist. i, in Epistole
di Dante Allighieri edite e inedite (Livorno, 1842; pp. 2-4).
2. P. Fraticelli (1857) : Epist. i, in Opere Minori di Dante
Alighieri (Firenze, 1857 ; vol. iii, pp. 438-40). 3. G. B. Giuliani
(1882) : Epist. i, in Opere Latine di Dante Allighieri (Firenze,
1882 ; vol. ii, pp. 3-5). 4. E. Moore (1894) : Epist. i, in Tutte
le Opere di Dante AUghieri 5 (Oxford, 1894; second edition,
1897; third edition, 1904; pp. 403-4). 5. 0. Zenatti (1901):
in Dante e Firenze (Firenze, 1901 ; pp. 359-60). 6. G. L. Passerini

1 For the history of this MS., Introduction.

2 This was one of the MSS. utilized by Witte in his edition of
the treatise published at Vienna in 1874 (see p. lviii of that work).

3 Here numbered Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***; see pp. 106, 112, 116.

4 Epist. iii in the Oxford Dante.
6 The Oxford Bante,

2165 B

2 LETTERS OF DANTE

(1910) : Epist. i, in Opere Minorl di Dante Alighieri (Firenze, 1910 ;
vi, pp. 4-10). 7. Paget Toynbee (1912): (diplomatic transcript
of the MS. text, together with collations of the various readings
of the several printed editions of the letter, and alist of proposed
emendations in the Oxford text) in Modern Language Review
(Cambridge, 1912 ; vol. vii, pp. 29-32). 8. [A. Della Torre] a
(1917): Epist. iii, in De Monarchia e De Vulgari Eloquentia con
le Epistolae e la Quaestio de Aqua et Terra di Dante Alighieri
(Firenze, 1917 ; pp. 235-8).

Translations.— Italian. 1. Torri (1842) : op. cit, pp. 3-5.
2. Fraticelli (1857) : op. cit., pp. 439-41. 3. Passerini (1910) :
op.cit., pp. 5-11. — German 2 . 1. K. L. Kannegiesser (1845): in
Dante AlighierC sprosaische Schriften mit Ausnahme der Vita Nuova
(Leipzig, 1845; Theil ii, pp. 163-6). 2. G. A. Scartazzini
(1879) : (extracts) in Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein Leben und
seine Werke (Frankfurt a. M., 1879; pp. Uh-fy.—English.
1. C. S. Latham (1891): in A Translation of Dante's Eleven
Letters (Boston, U.S.A., 1891 ; pp. 1-5). 2. P. H. Wicksteed
(1904) : in Translation of the Latin Works of Dante Alighieri
(London, 1904; pp. 295-7). 3. Paget Toynbee : (see below,
pp. 9-11).

Authenticity. — This letter, which is addressed to the
Cardinal Niccolo da Prato on behalf of the Captain (Alessandro
da Romena), Council (of which Dante was a member) 8 , and

1 The name of the editor is not given on the title-page ; but it
appears from the publishers' note prefixed to the edition of Tutte le
Opere di Dante Alighieri issued at Florence by the same firm
(G. Barbera) in the present year (1919) that the editor was the late
Prof. Arnaldo Della Torre. In this latter work the 1917 Barbera
text of the Ehistolae is reproduced without alteration.

2 An abstract of the letter, with a German translation of the last
paragraph, was published by Witte in 1838 in his article Neu
aufgefundene Briefe des Dante Allighieri, in Blcitter fur literarische Vnter-
haltung (Leipzig ; Nos. 149-51), which was reprinted in the first
volume of his Dante-Forschungen (Heilbronn, 1874 ; see pp. 475-6).

8 Leonardo Bruni, in his Vita di Dante, says that after his banish-

EPISTOLA I 3

whole party of the Bianchi of Florence, is not ascribed to
Dante by name in the MS., but it was evidently, like the
three Battifolle letters, considered by the compiler 1 of the
collection to have been written by Dante ; and this attribution
is commonly accepted. 2

Date.— The Cardinal da Prato (Niccolo degli Albertini),
Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, who had been appointed by
Benedict XI 'pacificator in Tuscairy, Romagna, the March
of Treviso, and the parts adjacent' on Jan. 31, 1304 3 , arrived
in Florence in this capacity on March 10 following 4 , and it is
probable that this letter was addressed to him by Dante from
Arezzo on behalf of the exiled Florentines either shortly
before 5 or shortly after 6 his arrival in that city— at any rate
in the spring or early summer of 1304, before his final de-

ment from Florence Dante decided to make common cause with
the other Florentine exiles, who fixed their headquarters at
Arezzo, where they remained until 1304 : ' finalmente fermarono
la sedia loro ad Arezzo, e quivi ferono campo grosso e crearono loro
capitano il conte Alessandro da Romena ; feron dodici consiglieri,
del numero dei quali fu Dante : e di speranza in speranza stettero
infino alP anno milletrecento quattro '. Bruni makes the same
statement in his Historia Florentina (see Zenatti's Bante e Firenze,
p. 363, where the passage is quoted).

1 The original compiler of the collection was probably Boccaccio
(see Zenatti, op. cit, pp. 458-9 ; and Bullettino della Societa Bantesca
Italiana, N.S. x. 139).

2 Not, however, by Del Lungo — see his Bino Compagni e la sua
Cronica, vol. ii, pp. 585-96 ; and see below, p. 4, n. 2.

3 See Potthast, Begesta Pontijicum Bomanorum, No. 25349. Niccol6,
who was a Ghibelline (Villani, viii. 69), had been created Cardinal
in the previous year ; he took part in the coronation of Henry VII
at Rome on June 29, 1312 (Villani, ix. 43 ; DinoCompagni, iii. 36) ;
and was one of the Colonnesi party at Carpentras in 1314 (see note
on date of Epist. viii) ; he died at Avignon on April 1, 1321, a few
months before Dante.

4 Dino Compagni, iii. 4 ; Villani, viii. 69.

* See Torraca, in Bull. Soc. Bant. Ital, N.S. x. 126-7.
6 See Zenatti, op. cit, pp. 361-4.

b2

4 LETTERS OF DANTE

parture from Florence at the beginning of June 1 , after his
failure to effect a pacification 2 .

Summary. — § 1. The exiles acknowledge receipt of a letter
from the Cardinal, and crave indulgence for their delay in
replying to it, on the ground that the matters in question
required careful consideration, and necessitated frequent con-
sultation with other members of the league. § 2. They express
their gratification at his promise to restore peace to Florence,
which, they protest, was the sole object of their own recourse
to arms ; and declare that no words of theirs would be adequate
to convey their thanks for so great a service to themselves and
to Florence. § 3. They, further, acknowledge a communication
by word of mouth from a messenger despatched to them by the
Cardinal, charging them (as did his letter) to abstain from all
acts of warfare, and to submit themselves unreservedly to his
discretion ; which they pledge themselves to do, as his messenger
will inform him, and as they will cause to be published abroad
in due form. § 4. In conclusion they pray that he may restore
peace to Florence, and implore his protection for themselves
and their coadjutors, finally pledging themselves once more to
render strict obedience to his behests.

Reverendissimo in Christo Patri, dominorum suorum
carissimo, domino Nicholao*, miseratione coelesti

MS. = Cod, Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729 0. = Oxford Bante
a MS. Richolao

1 Dino Compagni (iii. 7) gives June 9 as the date of his de-
parture ; Villani (viii. 69) says June 4.

2 Del Lungo, who does not impugn the authenticity of the letter
as a genuine document, holds (loc. cit.) that it was written subse-
quently to the exiles' abortive attempt from Lastra to force an
entry into Florence on July 20 ; and that consequently the writer
could not have been Dante, who by that time, as seems to be
certain, had separated himself from ' la compagnia malvagia
e scempia ' (Par. xvi. 62) of his fellow-exiles. But the arguments
adduced in support of this contention are not convincing.

EPISTOLA I 5

Ostiensi et Vallatrensi Episcopo, Apostolicae Sedis
Legato, necnon in* Tuscia, Romaniola, et Marchia
Tervisina b , et partibus circum adiacentibus Paciario
per sacrosanctam Ecclesiam ordinato \ devotissimi
filii Alexander c2 Capitaneus 3 , Consilium* et Univer-
sitas Partis Alborum de Florentia semetipsos devo-
tissime atque promptissime recommendant.

§ 1. Praeceptis salutaribus moniti 5 et Apostolica

a MS. et b 0. et Maritima, terris ° MS. .A.

1 The Bull of Benedict XI appointing the Cardinal Niccolo da
Prato 'pacificator' is registered by Potthast in Regesta Pontificum
Romanorum under date Jan. 31, 1304 : ■ Nicolaum Ostiensem epi-
scopum in provinciis Tusciae, Bomaniolae, marchiae Tarvisinae ac
partibus circumiacentibus constituit pacis conservatorem ac pacia-
rium' (No. 25349).

2 In the MS. the name is not given at length, but only the
initial. The use of the initial alone, for the name, in the
* salutatio ' of a letter, except in the case of a Pope, was according
to rule. In the Formularius de modo prosandi of Baumgartenberger
(c. 1300) it is laid down : ' Nomen papae ex integro debet poni in
salutacione . . . quod non fit in aliis. In aliis quidem pro persona
mittentis seu etiam recipientis prima litera proprii nominis
ponitur ' (apud Bockinger, Uber Briefsteller und Formelbiicher des Mittel-
aUers, p. 729). The omission of a title (such as Comes or Dominus)
before Alessandro's name was equally according to rule : — ' Nota
quod in salutatione non debent poni nomina quae pertineant
ad laudem mittentis, sed tantum recipientis ' (Guid. Fabe Summa
Dictaminis. Cap. vii. De propria commendatione tollenda ; quoted by
Novati in Lectura Dantis : Opere Minori di Dante, p. 309).

3 The election by the Florentine exiles of the Count Alessandro
da Bomena as their captain is recorded by Bruni in his Vita di Dante
(see above, p. 2, n. 3).

4 Of this council, which consisted oftwelve, Dantewasamember
(see Bruni, loc. cit.).

5 These words are taken (as Dr. Edmund Gardner kindly in-
forms me) from the prelude to the Lord's Prayer in the Canon of

6 LETTERS OF DANTE

Pietate a } rogati, sacrae vocis contextui quem misistis,
post cara nobis consilia, respondemus. Et si negli-
5 gentiae sontes aut ignaviae censeremur ob iniuriam
tarditatis, citra iudicium discretio sancta vestra praepon- 5
deret 2 ; et quantis qualibusque consiliis et responsis,
observata sinceritate consortii 3 , nostra b fraternitas

10 decenter procedendo indigeat, et examinatis quae tan-
gimus 4 , ubi forte contra debitam celeritatem defecisse
despicimur, ut affluentia c vestrae Benignitatis d 6 indul- 10
geat deprecamur.

15 § % Ceu filii non ingrati literas igitur piae Paterni-
tatis 6 aspeximus, quae totius nostri f desiderii perso-
nantes exordia, subito mentes nostras subito g tanta lae-

20 titia perfuderunt, quantam nemo valeret seu verbo seu 15
cogitatione metiri. Nam quam, fere prae h desiderio
somniantes G , inhiabamus patriae sanitatem, vestrarum
literarum series 7 plusquam semel sub paterna monitione

a 0. pietate b MS. uestra c MS. affluentie d 0. benignitatis
e 0. Paternitatis vestrae f MS. uestri B O. omits subito h 0. pro

the Mass : ' Praeceptis salutaribus moniti, et divina institutione
formati, audemus dicere : Pater noster . . .'

1 Instances of Pietas as a title are given by Du Cange : cf. 1. 61 of
this same letter.

2 Cf. Epist. v. 40-2.

3 This league (' compagnia ') was formed in the spring of 1303 ;
cf. Dino Compagni (ii. 32), where he gives a list of the members.

4 Dr. Heberden has suggested to me that the awkward construc-
tion of the text as it stands may be due to the accidental misplace-
ment (cf. Epist. viii. 154 n.) of these four words, which would come
more naturally at the beginning of the clause ; thus : ' et exami-
natis quae tangimus, quantis qualibusque consiliis etc.'.

5 Cf. ' regia Benignitas ', as a title of honour, in the first Batti-
folle letter (Epist. vii*).

6 Cf. V.E. ii. 6, 11. 38-9.

7 Cf. Epist. iii. 7.

EPISTOLA I 7

25 polluxit a . Et ad quid aliud in civile bellum corruimus ?
Quid aliud candida nostra b signa * petebant ? Et ad 20
quid aliud enses et tela nostra c rubebant d2 , nisi ut
qui civilia iura temeraria voluptate 3 truncaverant, et

30 iugo piae legis 4 colla submitterent, et ad pacem patriae
cogerentur ? Quippe nostrae intentionis cuspis 5 legitima
de nervo quem tendebamus prorumpens, 6 quietem solam 25
et libertatem populi Florentini petebat — petiit, atque

35 petet e in posterum. Quod si tam gratissimo nobis
beneficio vigilatis, et adversarios nostros, prout sancta
conamina vestra f voluerint^ ad sulcos bonae civilitatis

40 intenditis remeare, quis vobis dignas grates persolvere 7 30

a 0. pollicetur b MS. uestra ° MS. uestra d MS. rubeant
e 0. petebat, petit, atquepetet f MS., O. nostra

1 As tokens of peace; cf. Dino Compagni (iii. 10) : 'Si schierarono
. . . con le insegne bianche spiegate, e con ghirlande d' ulivo . . .
gridando pace . . . Molto fu bello a vederli, con segno di pace,
stando schierati \

2 A reference to the warfare in the Mugello in 1302 and 1303
recorded by Dino Compagni (ii. 29 ff.) and Villani (viii. 53, 60) ;
see Chronological Table in Appendix.

3 Parodi points out (Bull. Soc. Bant. Ital, N.S. xix. 267) that
voluptas (often written volumptas) was an old form ofvoluntas, and he
quotes the expression ' ex voluptate testamenti \ Giovanni da
Genova in his Catholicon (s. v. volunias) says : ' Voluntas, a volvo -vis
dicitur hec voluntas -tis per n ; et hec voluptas -tis per p. Voluntas
per n est desiderium nondum adepte rei ; set voluptas per p est rei
adepte delectatio bone vel male/ (Cf. Conv. iv. 6, 11. 104-5.)

4 Cf. Epist. vi. 30 : 'iugum libertatis'.

6 Cf. Par. xiii. 105 : ' lo stral di mia intenzion \

6 Cf. Purg. xxv. 17-18 ; Par. iv. 60.

7 Aen. i. 600-5 : ' Grates persolvere dignas Non opis est nostrae,
Dido, nec quidquid ubique est Gentis Dardaniae, magnum quae
sparsa per orbem. Di tibi, si qua pios respectant numina, si quid
Usquam iustitia est, et mens sibi conscia recti, Praemia digna
ferant ' ; and ii. 536-8 : ' Di, si qua est coelo pietas quae talia curet,

8 LETTERS OF DANTE

attentabit ? Nec opis est nostrae, pater, nec quidquid
Florentinae gentis reperitur in terris ; sed si qua coelo
est pietas quae talia remuneranda prospiciat, illa vobis

45 praemia digna ferat l s qui tantae urbis misericordiam
induistis, et ad sedanda civium profana litigia festinatis. 35

§ 3. Sane, quum per sanctae religionis virum, fratrem
L. 2 , civilitatis persuasorem et pacis, praemoniti atque

50 requisiti sumus instanter pro vobis, quemadmodum et
ipsae vestrae literae continebant, ut ab omni guerrarum
insultu cessaremus et usu, et nos ipsos in paternas manus 40

55 vestras exhiberemus in totum, nos filii devotissimi vobis
et pacis amatores et iusti, exuti iam gladiis, arbitrio
vestro spontanea et sincera voluntate subimus, ceu
relatu praefati vestri nuntii, fratris L., narrabitur, et per

60 publica instrumenta solemniter celebrata liquebit. 45

§ 4. Idcirco Pietati a B clementissimae vestrae filiali
voce affectuosissime supplicamus, quatenus illam diu
exagitatam Florentiam 4 sopore tranquillitatis et pacis

65 irrigare velitis ; eiusque semper populum defensantes
nos et qui nostri sunt iuris, ut pius pater, commendatos 50
habere ; qui velut a patriae caritate 5 nunquam destiti-

70 mus, sic de praeceptorum vestrorum limitibus nunquam
exorbitare intendimus; sed semper tam debite quam
devote quibuscumque vestris obedire mandatis.

a O. pietati.

Persolvant grates dignas, et praemia reddant Debita'. Compare
the use made of the first passage in the first Battifolle letter
(Epist. vii*), as well as in Epist. ii. 8 ; and cf. Par. iv. 121-3.

1 See previous note.

2 There is no clue to the identity of this individual.
8 See above, p. 6, n. 1.

4 Cf. Purg. vi. 149-51, where Dante compares Florence to a woman
restlessly tossing on a bed of sickness.

5 Cf. Inf. xiv. 1 : ' la carita del natio loco '.

EPISTOLA I

Teanslation.

To the most reverend Father in Christ, their most beloved Lord,
the Lord Nicholas, by divine grace JBishop of Ostia and
Velletri, Legate of the Apostolic See, and by Holy Church
ordained Pacificator in Tuscany, Bomagna, the March of
Treviso, and the regions circumadjacent, his most devoted
sons, Alexander the Captain, the Council, and the ivhole
body of the WJiite Party of Plorence, commend themselves
in all devotion and zeal.

§ 1. In submission to salutary admonishment, and in
response to the Apostolic Holiness, after precious con-
sultation, we make reply to the tenour of the sacred
utterance which you have addressed to us. And should
we be held guilty of negligence or of slothfulness by
occasion of any prejudice due to our tardiness, may
your holy discretion lean to the hither side of con-
demnation, regard being had to the number and nature
of the consultations and communications necessary for
the proper conduct of the affairs of our brotherhood, and
for the observance of good faith with the league. But
if, after consideration of the facts here submitted to you,
we perchance be blamed as having been wanting in due
diligence, we pray that the superabundant bounty of your
Benignity may incline you to indulgence.

§ 2. As not ungrateful sons, therefore, we examined
the letter of your gracious Paternity, which, in that
it gives expression to the prelude of the whole matter
of our desires, forthwith filled our minds with joy so
exceeding great that by none could it be measured either
in word or in thought. For the healing of our country,
for which we have yearned, longing for it as it were
even in our dreams, in the course of your letter, under
the guise of fatherly admonition, is more than once
promised us. And for what else did we plunge into
civil war? What else did our white standards seek?
And for what else were our swords and our spears
dyed with crimson? Save that they, who at their
own mad will and pleasure have maimed the body of

10 LETTERS OF DANTE

civil right, should submit their necks to the yoke of
beneficent law, and should be brought by force to the
observance of their country's peace ! In sooth, the lawful
shaft of our purpose, leaping from the bowstring we held
stretched, sought solely the peace and liberty of the people
of Florence — sought, and ever will seek. But if your
vigilance is intent on a consummation so dear to us, and
you are resolved, as the end of your holy endeavours, that
our foes shall return to the furrows of good citizenship,
who shall attempt to render adequate thanks to you?
Not in our power is it, O Father, nor in that of any
of the Florentine race throughout the world. But if
there exists any goodness in heaven which looks upon
such deeds as worthy of recompense, may it grant meet
reward to you, who have clothed yourself with com-
passion for so great a city, and are hastening to compose
the unholy strife of her citizens !

§ 3. Whereas, then, by brother L., a man of holy
religion, and an advocate of good citizenship and of
peace, we are urgently on your behalf admonished and
required (which was likewise the import of your letter)
to cease from all assault and act of war, and to commit
ourselves wholly to your fatherly hands, we as sons most
devoted to yourself, and as lovers of peace and justice,
putting off our swords, of our own free will and without
reservation submit ourselves to your judgement, as by
the report of your messenger, the aforesaid brother L.,
shall be made known to you, and by public instruments
in due form shall be declared abroad.

§ 4. With filial voice, therefore, we most aifectionately
implore that your most merciful Holiness may bedew
with the calm of tranquillity and peace this Florence
so long tempest-tossed ; and that as a loving father you
may keep under your protection ourselves, who have
ever been the defenders of her people, and all who are
under our authority ; for as we have never been remiss
in our love for our country, so we look never to stray
beyond the bounds of your behests, but always in duty
and devotion to be obedient to your commands, what-
soever they be.

11

EPISTOLA II

( f Patruus vester Alexander ')
To the Counts Oberto and Guido da Romena

[1304]

MSS.~ This letter, like the preceding, has been preserved in
one MS. only, Cod. Vaticano-Palatino Latino 1729 (Cent. xiv)
in the Vatican, in which it occurs sixth in order of the nine
letters contained in the MS., being placed between the three
Battifolle letters (Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***) and the letter to
Moroello Malaspina (Epist. iv (iii)). 1

Printed Texts. 2 — 1. Torri (1842): Epist. ii (op. cit., p. 8).
2. C. Troya (1856) : in Del Veltro Allegorico de' GhibeUini (Napoli,
1856; pp. 304-6). 3. Fraticelli (1857): Epist. ii (op. cit.,
pp. 446-8). 4. Giuliani (1882) : Epist. ii (op. cit, pp. 5-6).
5. Moore (1894) : Epist. ii (op. cit., p. 404). 6. Passerini (1910) :
Epist. ii (op. cit., pp. 12-16). 7. Paget Toynbee (1912) : (diplo-
matic transcript of the MS. text, together with collations of the
various readings of the several printed editions of the letter,
and list of proposed emendations in the Oxford text) in Modern
Language Review (vol. vii, pp. 24-6). 8. [Della TorreJ (1917) :
Epist. iv (op. cit., pp. 238-40).

Translations. 3 — Italian. 1. Torri (1842): op. cit., p. 9.
2. Fraticelli (1857): op. cit., pp. 447-9. 3. Passerini (1910):
op. cit., pp. 13-17. — German} 1. Kannegiesser (1845): op. cit.,

1 Epist. iii in the Oxford Dante—see above, p. 1.

2 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

3 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, p. 2.

4 An abstract of the letter, with extracts from it in German,
was published by Witte in 1838 in his article Neu aufgefundene

12 LETTERS OF DANTE

pp. 167-8. 2. Scartazzini (1879) : in Dante AUghieri, seine Zeit,
sein Leben und seine Werlce (pp. 370-1). — English. 1. Latham
(1891): op. cit, pp. 35-6. 2. Wicksteed (1904): op. cit.,
pp. 298-300. 3. Paget Toynbee (see helow, pp. 17-18).

Authenticity. — The original title of this letter, which was
written to the Counts Oberto and Guido, sons of Aghinolfo
da Roniena, to condole with them on the death of their uncle
Alessandro, has not been preserved. The heading in the MS.,
which assigns the letter to Dante, and gives the names of
the addressees, obviously did not form part of the original
composition. The information which it supplies (which is
independent of the letter itself ) was no doubt derived by the
original compiler 1 of the collection from an earlier authority
no longer extant. The attribution of the letter to Dante is
by no means universally accepted, chiefly on account of the
difficulty of reconciling the terms in which Alessandro is
spoken of in the letter with the severe condemnation of him
by Dante in the Infemo (xxx. 76 rT.). 2 If Dante was the writer
of the letter, we must suppose that he did not become ac-
quainted with the facts referred to in the Commedia until some
time after Alessandro's death. 3

Date. — The date to be assigned to the letter must remain
conjectural, as that of the death of Alessandro da Romena has
not been ascertained. There are plausible grounds, however,
for supposing Alessandro's death to have taken place in the
spring or summer of 1304, that is to say, between the date
of the previous letter 4 and that of the attempt of the exiles
on Florence from Lastra on July 20 of that year. In the

Briefe des Dante Allighieri (see above, p. 2, n. 1), which was reprinted
in his Dante-Forschungen (see vol. i, pp. 476-8).

1 Probably Boccaccio (see above, p. 3, n. 1).

2 See, for instance, Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronka,
vol. ii, p. 594.

3 See Zenatti, Dante e Firenze, pp. 345-6 ; and Torraca, in Bull.
Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. x. 137 ; and his Comento on Inf. xxx. 77.

4 See above, p. 3.

EPISTOLA II 13

accounts of this attempt * no mention is made of Alessandro,
who, as captain of the league, should naturally have headed
the expedition ; whence it has been assumed that he died
before that date. Further, if the writer of the letter was Dante,
it follows that it must have been written before the same date,
since the writer speaks of the death of Alessandro as having
been a cruel blow to the hopes of the exiles, and to himself
among them, who placed in Alessandro his hopes of a return
to Florence (11. 20-6) ; thus showing that the writer was in
association with the exiles at the date of the letter, whereas
Dante almost certainly had finally dissociated himself from
the exiles before the attempt from Lastra of July 20. 2 The
letter, then, if written by Dante, may be assigned with every
appearance of probability to the spring or early summer
of 1304.

Summary. — § 1. The writer declares his devotion for the
deceased, whose memory he will ever cherish ; recalls his
virtues, showing how his character was in keeping with the
device on his escutcheon ; and deplores his death as a heavy
blow to the hopes of his party, the writer included, who had
looked to him to restore their fortunes. § 2. Yet consolation
is to be found in the thought that his virtues have gained him
a place of honour in the heavenly Jerusalem ; wherefore those
who now enter upon his earthly heritage are urged not to
grieve for his loss overmuch, but to seek, as his heirs, to follow
in his footsteps. § 3. In conclusion, the writer craves to be
excused for his absence from the funeral rites, on the score
of the poverty brought upon him by exile, which has deprived
him of the means of making a fitting appearance on the
occasion.

1 Dino Compagni, iii. 10; Villani, viii. 72.

2 See Torraca, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. x. 130-1.

14 LETTERS OF DANTE

\Hanc epistolam scripsit Dantes Alagherii* Oberto et
Guidoni, Comitibus de Romena \ post mortem Alexan-
dri, Comitis de Romena 2 , patrui eorum, condolens
illis h de obitu suo.]

§ 1. Patruus vester Alexander, comes illustris, qui
diebus proximis coelestem unde venerat secundum
spiritum 3 remeavit ad patriam, dominus meus erat, et

5 memoria eius usque quo sub tempore vivam dominabitur c
mihi ; quando magnificentia sua, quae super astra nunc 5
affluenter dignis praemiis muneratur d4 , me sibi ab an-

10 nosis temporibus sponte sua fecit esse subiectum e . Haec
equidem cunctis aliis virtutibus comitata in illo, suum
nomen prae titulis 5 Italorum aereum f illustrabat. Et
quid aliud heroica sua signa 6 dicebant, nisi ' scuticam » 10

15 vitiorum fugatricem ostendimus ' ? Argenteas etenim
scuticas h in purpureo deferebat * extrinsecus, et intrin-
secus mentem in amore j virtutum vitia repellentem.

MS. = Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729 0. = Oxforcl Bante

a MS. allagerij ; . Aligherius. b MS. illius c MS. dominabatur
d MS. me netatur e O. subditum f 0. heroum s MS. senticam

11 MS. senticas ' MS. deferrebat j MS. iam more

1 Oberto and Guido were the two eldest sons of Aghinolfo da
Eomena, elder brother of Alessandro da Romena, of the Conti
Guidi (see Table accompanying Torraca's article on Aghinolfo da
Romena in Bull. Soc. Bant. Ital, N.S. xi. 107).

2 As to the date of his death, see above, pp. 13-14.

3 Cf. Rom. viii. 4 ; Gal. iv. 29.

4 Cf. Aen. i. 605 : ' Praemia digna ferant ' ; for other reminis-
cences of this same passage of the Aeneid, see note on Epist. i.
39-44.

6 Cf. Epist. iii (iv). 11 : *ut titulum mei nominis ampliares'.
6 Cf. the references to family cognizances in Inf. xvii. 52-73 ;
xxvii. 41-50.

EPISTOLA II 15

Dpleat, ergo, doleat progenies maxima Tuscanorum,
20 quae tanto viro fulgebat ; et doleant omnes amici eius 15

et subditi, quorum spem mors crudeliter verberavit ;

inter quos ultimos me miserum dolere cportet, qui, a
25 patria pulsus et exul immeritus *, infortunia mea con-

tinua cura rependens 2 , spe a memet consolabar b in illo.
§ 2. Sed quamquam, sensualibus amissis 3 , doloris 20

amaritudo incumbat, si considerentur intellectualia quae
30 supersnnt, sane mentis oculis 4 lux dulcis consolationis

exoritur. Nam qui virtutem c honorabat in terris, nunc

a MS. infortunia mea repenclens continuo cura spe ; 0. infortunia mea
rependens, continuo cara spe b MS. consolabat c 0. virtutes

1 Dante describes himself as ' exul immeritus ' in the titles of his
letters to Cino da Pistoja (Epist. iii (iv)), to the Princes and Peoples
of Italy (Epist. v), to the Florentines (Epist. vi), and to the
Emperor Henry VII (Epist. vii).

2 The word repenclens appears to have got displaced in the MS.
Similar transpositions of words, due to carelessness, or sometimes
to a ' cacoethes corrigendi ', on the part of the scribe, are frequent
in MSS. An instance occurs in the text of Epist. vii, where (in
1. 151) the Vatican MS. reads in bella furialiter, while the San
Pantaleo and Venetian MSS. read furialiter in bella (see Bull. Soc.
Bant. Ital., N.S. xix. 259, n. 2, where numerous instances are given
from the MSS. of the letters of Coluccio Salutati ; see also the
remarks upon 'pie' in Moore's Studies in Bante, iv, pp. 6, 33 ; and
see note on Epist. viii. 154 below).

3 The MS. reading violates the cursus, which may be restored by tho
transposition of the two words ' amissis sensualibus ' (giving a form
of tardus). Parodi suggests (Bull. Soc. Bant. Ital, N.S. xix. 263)
that a monosyllable has dropped out, and that 'sensualibus
niinc amissis ' (velox) should be read. Perhaps the missing word is
iam (in MS. id or iam).

4 Cf. Mon. ii. 1, 11. 17-18 : ' mentis oculos infixi ' ; Epist. v. 163 :
' aperite oculos mentis vestrae ' ; Epist. viii. 146-8 : ' qualis est . . .
ante mentales oculos affigatis oportet ' ; Conv. ii. 5, 11. 116-17 : 'gli
occhi della mente umana' ; Bar. x. 121 : Tocchio della mente'.

16 LETTERS OF DANTE

a Virtutibus al honoratur in coelis, et qui Ronmnae
aulae palatinus 2 erat in Tuscia, nunc regiae 3 sempi- 25

35 ternae aulicus praeelectus, in superna Ierusalem cum
beatorum principibus gloriatur. Quapropter, carissimi
domini mei, supplici exbortatione vos deprecor, qua-
tenus modice dolere b velitis et sensualia postergare,

i>0 nisi prout vobis exemplaria esse possunt ; et quemad- so
modum ipse iustissimus bonorum sibi vos instituit in

a 0. virtutibus b MS. dolore

1 That is, the Virtues, as one of the Orders of the Celestial
Hierarchies (cf. Par. xxviii. 122 ; Conv. ii. 6, 1. 51).

2 The founder of the family of the Conti Guidi was made
Count Palatine in Tuscany in the tenth century by the Emperor
Otto I ; cf. Villani, iv. 1 : ' Questo Otto ammendo molto tutta
Italia, e mise in pace e buono stato ; e abbatte le forze de' tiranni ;
e al suo tempo assai de' suoi baroni rimasono signori in Toscana
e in Lombardia. Intra gli altri fu il cominciamento de' conti
Guidi, il quale il primo ebbe nome Guido, che '1 fece conte Pala-
tino, e diegli il contado di Modigliana in Komagna . . .' The
title was regularly employed as part of the Counts' official
description, and as such occurs repeatedly in the Regesta Ponti-
ficum Romanorum ; e. g. a bull of Innocent IV (Oct. 28, 1243) refers
to ' Guidonem dictum Guerram Comitem palatinum Tusciae ' (ed.
Potthast, No. 11166); Honorius IV (Feb. 9, 1287): < Guidoni de
Battifollis Comiti Tusciae palatino concedit . . .' (Potth.
No. 22557); Boniface VIII (Feb. 14, 1300): 'Tegrino comiti in
Tuscia palatino ad sedandas discordias inter eum ex parte una
et Manfredum ac Giuglielmum fratres et Guidonem Novellum
nepotem ipsorum comites in Tuscia palatinos . . .' (Potth.
No. 24911), etc, etc. Cf. the titles of the three Battifolle letters
(Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***), in which the Countess of Battifolle (a
branch of the Conti Guidi) is described as ' Comitissa in Tuscia
Palatina '.

3 On the distinction between aula and regia, the two terms here
used, cf. the Graecismus of Ebrardus Bethuniensis, xii. 52-3 : ' Aula
domus comitum, sed regia mansio regum, Induperatorum sunt celsa
palatia ditum.'

EPISTOLA II 17

haeredes, 1 sic a ipsi vos, tamquam proximiores ad illum,
mores eius egregios induatis.

45 § 6. Ego autem, praeter haec, me vestrum vestrae
djscretioni excuso de absentia lacrymosis exequiis ; quia 35
nec negligentia neve ingratitudo me tenuit, sed inopina

50 paupertas quam fecit exilium. Haec etiam, velut
effera persecutrix, equis armisque vacantem, iam suae
captivitatis me detrusit in antrum, et nitentem cunctis
exsurgere viribus, huc usque praevalens, impia retinere io

molitur. 2

a MS. ai

Translation

[This letter was written by Dante Alighieri to the Counts
Oberto and Guido da Bomena, after the death of their
uncle, Count Alessandro da Momena, to condole ivith them
on his decease.]

§ 1. Your uncle, the illustrious Count Alessandro, who
in these last days returned, after the spirit, to the heavenly
fatherland whence he came, was my Lord, and his memory
will have dominion over me so long as my life shall last
in this world ; for his nobility of soul, which now is
richly recompensed with meet rewards beyond the stars,
for long years past, as he willed, made me his servant.
And verily this quality, accompanied as it was in him by
all the other virtues, caused his name to stand out, as it
were in bronze, above the fame of other Italians. And
what else did his heroic escutcheon proclaim, but that
' we display the scourge that drives away vice ' ? for as

1 Torraca points out (Bull. Soc. Dant. ItaL, N.S. x. 131, n. 1) that
it was doubtless as the heirs of Alessandro that Dante addressed
his letter of condolence to Oberto and Guido, rather than to their
father Aghinolfo.

2 For other references to the poverty brought upon Dante by his
exile, cf. Conv. i. 3. 11. 19-37 ; Par. xvii. 58-60 ; Epist. x. 600-1.

218 5 C

18 LETTERS OF DANTE

his outward blazon he bore silver scourges on a purple
field, 1 and inwardly a mind repellent of vice in its love
of virtue. Lament, therefore, lament, thou noblest of the
houses of Tuscany, that shone with the light of so great
a man ! Lament, all ye his friends and servants, whose
hope death hath so cruelly stricken ; and among the last,
woe is me ! must I too lament, who, driven from my
country, in undeserved exile, was wont, as I brooded
over my unhappy fate with unceasing anxiety, to console
myself with the hope which I rested in him.

§ 2. But although the bitterness of grief weigh upon
us for the Ipss of corporeal things, yet, when we consider
the intellectual things which remain, surely before the
eyes of the mind must arise the light of sweet consolation.
For he, by whom virtue was honoured on earth, is now
held in honour of the Virtues in heaven ; and he who was
a Palatine of the Court of Rome in Tuscany now glories
as a chosen courtier with the princes of the Blest in the
everlasting palace of the Jerusalem which is above.
Wherefore, my beloved Lords, with humble exhortation
I beseech you to grieve not overmuch, and to put behind
you bodily concerns, save in so far as they may serve you
for examples ; and as he himself, a most just man,
appointed you to be the heirs of his possessions, so do
you, as those nearest to him, clothe yourselves with his
most excellent qualities.

§ 3. But I must add a word on my own behalf, in
appeal to your judgement, to excuse myself, as your
servant, for my absence from the mournful ceremony ;
for it was neither neglect nor ingratitude which kept me
away, but the unlooked-for poverty brought about by
exile. Poverty, like a vindictive fury, has thrust me,
deprived of horses and arms, into her prison den, where
she has set herself relentlessly to keep me in durance ;
and though I struggle with all my strength to get free,
she has hitherto prevailed against me.

1 Heraldically, 'purpure, scourges argent '.

19

EPISTOLA III (IV) 1

(' Eructuavit inccndium ')

To A PrSTOJAN EXILE

[c. 1305]

MSS. — This letter has been preserved in one MS. only, Cod.
xxix. 8 2 in the Laurentian Library at Florence, which contains
three letters attributed to Dante, viz. (in the order in which
they occur in the MS.) : to the Italian Cardinals (Epist. viii) ;
to a Pistojan Exile ; and to a Friend in Florence (Epist. ix).
This MS., which was executed probably about the year 1348,
belonged to Boccaccio, and the portion containing the three
letters attributed to Dante, and certain other pieces, 3 is in his
handwriting. 4

Printed Texts. 5 — 1. Witte (1827) ; Epist. iv, in Dantis Alli-
gherii Epistolae quae exstant 6 (Patavii, 1827; pp. 14-16). 2.
Fraticelli (1840) : Epist. i, in Dantis Aligherii Epistolae quae
exstant (Florentiae, 1840 ; pp. 202-8). 3. Torri (1842) : Epist. iv
(op. cit., pp. 20-2). 4. L. Muzzi (1845) : Epist. ii, in Tre Epistole
Latine di Dante Allighieri restituite apiu vera lezione (Prato, 1845 ;
pp. 19-22). 5. Fraticelli (1857): Epist. iv, in Opere Minori di
Dante Alighieri (vol. iii, pp. 458-60). 6. Giuliani (1882) : Epist.
iv (op. cit., pp. 10-12). 7. Moore (1894): Epist. iv (op. cit.,
p. 405). 8. Passerini (1910): Epist. iv (op. cit., pp. 22-6). 9.
E. G. Parodi (1912) : (dipiomatic transcript of the MS. text 7 )

1 Epist. iv in the Oxford Dante (see below, p. 21, n. 4).

2 The well-known so-called Zibaldone Boccaccesco.

3 Including the letter of Frate Ilario to Uguccione delJa
Faggiuola and the Latin poetical correspondence between Dante
and Griovanni del Virgilio.

4 See Hauvette, Notes sur des manuscrits autographes de Boccace a la
Bihliotheque Laurentienne, pp. 50 ff.

5 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

6 Privately printed, 60 copies only.

7 Supplied by E. Kostagno.

c2

20 LETTERS OF DANTE

in Bullettino della Societa Dantesca Italiana (N. S. xix. 271-2).
10. Paget Toynbee (1917) : (diplomatic transcript of the MS.
text, 1 together with collations of the various readings of the
several printed editions of the letter, and a list of proposed
emendations in the Oxford text) in Modern Language Review
(vol. xii, pp. 39-41). 11. Paget Toynbee (1917) : (emended text)
in Modern Language Revieio (vol. xii, pp. 41-2). 12. [Della Torre]
(1917) : Epist. vii (op. cit., pp. 244-6).

Translations. 2 — Italian. 1. Fraticelli (1840) : op. cit,
pp. 203-5. 2. M. Missirini (1842) : in Torri, op. cit., pp. 21-3.
3. Muzzi (1845): op. cit., pp. 32-3. 4. Fraticelli (1857):
(revised trans.) op. cit., pp. 459-61. 5. Passerini (1910) : op. cit.,
pp. 23-7,— German. Kannegiesser (1845) : op. cit., pp. 172-4.—
English. 1. Latham (1891) : op. cit., pp. 129-32. 2. Wicksteed
(1904): op. cit., pp. 305-6. 3. Paget Toynbee (1917): in
Modern Language Review, vol. xii, pp. 42-4 (see below, pp. 27-8).

Authenticity. — The writer of the letter, who describes
himself in the title as ■ Florentinus exul immeritus ' — a de-
scription which occurs in the titles of three undoubted letters
of Dante, viz. to the Princes and Peoples of Italy (Epist. v),
to the Florentines (Epist. vi), and to the Emperor Henry VII
(Epist. vii), as well as in the text of the letter to the Counts
Oberto and Guido da Romena (Epist. ii. 24) — was first identified
as Dante by Carlo Troya in 1826 in his Del Veltro Allegorico di
Dante (pp. 204-5), and this identification has been generally
accepted, as has that of the Pistojan exile with Dante's friend
Cino da Pistoja.

Date. — This letter was formerly referred to a date subsequent
to 1307, in which year Cino was supposed to have been expelled

1 This was made from the facsimile of the MS. published at
Florence in 1914 in (belated) commemoration of the sixth cen-
tenary of the birth of Boccaccio (1313) — Lo Zibaldone Boccaccesco
Mediceo Laurenziano (Plut. xxix. 8). In Firenze, presso Leo S.
Olschki. MCMXIV.

2 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, p. 2.

EPISTOLA III (IV) %1

from Pistoja with the Bianchi ; but as the result of recent
research it appears that Cino belonged, not to the Bianchi,
but to the Neri, and that his exile from Pistoja coincided with
that of the Neri from 1301 to 1306. 1 Consequently, if Cino
be the Pistojan exile of the title, the letter must have been
written during the period between those two dates — probably
in 1305 or 1306 2 — and certainly before the letter to Moroello
Malaspina, 3 which has hitherto been placed third (instead of
fourth as now) in order of the letters of Dante. 4

Summary. — § 1. Cino having inquired 5 as to whether the
soul can pass ' from passion to passion ' j § 2. Dante replies
that the answer is in the affirmative, as will be found in the
poem 6 subjoined to his letter. § 3. That it is so is proved by

1 See A. Corbellini, Cino da Pistoja : Amore ed Esilio (Pavia, 1898) ;
and M. Barbi in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. vi. 209, 247.

2 See Zenatti, Dante t Firenze, pp. 245 ff.

3 See below, pp. 31-2.

4 In the present work, in order so far as possible to avoid con-
fusion in the case of these two letters, the old numeration has
been given (in brackets) as well as the new.

5 In his sonnet beginning 'Dante, quando per caso s'abbandona'
(see below, p. 26, n. 1).

6 This poem has been identified with the sonnet, • Io sono stato
con Amore insieme' (Son. xxxvi in the Oxford Dante), which in
accordance with the convention of the day is in the same rhymes
as that of Cino (see below, p. 26, n. 1). This correspondence between
Dante and Cino on the subject of the mutability of love was
known to Cecco d' Ascoli (1257-1327), who refers to it in his
Acerba ; he holds that love ' Non si disparte altro che per morte ',
and he takes upon him to confute Dante's theory : —

Ma Dante rescrivendo a misser Cino,

Amor non vide in questa pura forma,

Che tosto avria cambiato suo latino :

Io sono con Amore stato insieme.

Qui pose Dante, che nuovi speroni

Sentir puo il fianco con la nuova speme.

Contra tal detto dico quel ch' io sento,

Formando filosofiche rasoni —

Se Dante poi le solve, io son contento.

(IV. i, 11. 61-72.)

22 LETTERS OF DANTE

experience, and may be confirmed by reason, as he proceeds
to show; §4. and by authority, namely that of Ovid in his
tale of Apollo and Leucothoe. § 5. In conclusion, he exhorts
Cino to arm himself with patience against ' the slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune ' in exile.

Exidanti Pistoriensi Florenthms exul immeritus per
tempora diuturna salidem et perpetuae caritatis
ardorem.

§ 1. Eructuavit a * incendium tuae dilectionis verbum
ad me confidentiae vehementis, b 2 in quo consuluisti,
carissime, utrum de passione in passionem possit anima

5 transformari 3 : de passione in passionem, dico, secun-
dum eandem potentiam et obiecta diversa numero sed 5
non specie ; quod, quamvis ex ore tuo iustius prodire

10 debuerat, nihilominus me illius auctorem facere voluisti,
ut c in declaratione rei nimium dubitatae titulum 4 mei
nominis ampliares. Hoc etenim, quum d cognitum e5 ,

MS. = Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8 0. = Oxford Dante

a 0. Eructavit b MS. confidentie uehementis ame ; 0. c. v. ad me

c MS. et d MS., 0. quam e 0. iucundum

1 Cf. Psalm xliv. 2. Both eructo and eructuo are given (s. v. ructus)
by Giovanni da Genova in the Catholicon : ' ructo, -as, idest ructum
facere, vel emittere ; et exprimere. Unde ructuo, -as in eodem
sensu . . . et componitur, ut . . . eructo, -as, eructuo, -as\ Both
forms occur in the De Vidgari Eloquentia (in the MSS. as well as in
the editio princeps), viz. eructuo in i. 11, 1. 38 ; and eructo in ii. 4, 1. 17.

2 The MS. reading violates the cursus, which is rectified by the
transposition in the text, ' confidentiae vehementis ' (velox).

3 Cino's sonnet in which the inquiry was made is given below
(see p. 26, n. 1). 4 Cf. Epist. ii. 12.

5 K. Sabbadini proposes to read quam congruum (see Bull. Soc. Dant.
Ital., N.S. xxii. 62 ; and Mod. Lang. Rev. vii. 359). The reading

EPISTOLA III (IV) 23

quam acceptum, quamque a gratum exstiterit, absque 10
15 importuna diminutione verba non caperent bl : ideo,

causa conticentiae huius inspecta, ipse quod non ex-

primitur metiaris.

§ % Redditur, ecce, sermo Calliopeus 2 inferius, quo
20 sententialiter canitur, quamquam transumptive more 15

poetico signetur intentum, amorem c3 huius posse torpe-

scere atque d denique interire, nec non huius (quod cor-

ruptio unius generatio sit alterius 4 ) in anima refor-

mari. e 5
25 § 3. Et fides huius, quamquam ab experientia sit 20

persuasum, f 6 ratione potest et auctoritate muniri.

a MS. quam quam b MS. carent ; 0. capiunt c 0. signetur,

intentum amorem d MS. acque e 0. nec non quod corruptio unius

generatio sit alterius in anima reformati f MS., 0. quamquam sit ab

experientia persuasum

adopted in the text, quum cognitum, is an emendation due to Della
Torre (see Parodi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xxv. 89).

1 This emendation, which occurred independently to Sabbadini
and to myself (see Mod. Lang. Rev. vii. 359), is confirmed by Epist.
vi. 18, where the identical phrase occurs again.

2 Namely, the subjoined sonnet.

3 This emendation of the textus receptus is also due to Sabbadini,
who suggests (loc. cit.) that intentum (in the sense of ' meaning') is
the subject of signetur, and not an adjective qualifying amorem, as
usually taken. This correction also rectifies the cursus (giving
a planus ' signetur intentum '), which is violated by the clausula,
1 poetico signetur ', of the old reading.

4 Aristotle, De Gen. et Corrupt. i. 3.

5 The construction is : ' canitur . . . amorem huius (' for one
object') posse . . . interire, nec non [amorem] huius ('for
another object') . . . in anima reformari '. For tbis use of hic
. . . hic, cf. Mon. iii. 16, 11. 65-6 (' haec . . . haec ') ; V.E. ii. 12,
11. 87-8 (< hi . . . hi ') ; Epist. x. 3-4 (< hos . . . hos ')•

6 The MS. reading violates the cursus, which is rectified by the
transposition in the text, ' (ab experi)entia sit persuasum ' (velox).

U LETTERS OF DANTE

Omnis namque a potentia quae post corruptionem unius b

30 actus non deperit, naturaliter reservatur in alium : ergo
potentiae sensitivae, manente organo, per corruptionem
unius b actus non depereunt, et naturaliter reservantur c 25
in alium. Quum igitur potentia concupiscibilis, quae

35 sedes amoris est, sit potentia sensitiva, manifestum est
quod post corruptionem unius passionis, qua in actum
reducitur, in alium reservatur. Maior et minor pro-
positio d syllogismi, quarum facilis 6 patet introitus, 30
tuae diligentiae relinquantur f probandae.

40 § 4. Auctoritatem g vero Nasonis, quarto De Rerum
Transformatione, quae directe atque ad literam b pro-
positum respicit, superest ut intueare 11 ; f scilicet ubi ait

45 auctorf J ' 2 (et quidem k in fabula trium sororum contem- 35
tricium 1 in m semine Semeles 3 ) ad Solem loquens (qui

a 0. enim b 0. eius c MS. reseruatur d MS. prepositio ° 0. facile
f MS. relinguatur B MS. auctoritaie h MS. lictera 5 MS. super
ut intueare ; 0. sedulus intueare j MS. subtraxit aut k MS.

equidem ' MS. contentricum m 0. contemtricium Numinis in

1 Witte took the MS. reading to be sed ut intueare, out of which
he evolved sedulus intueare. But the actual MS. reading is super
ui intueare, for which I propose to read, with Sabbadini (l«c. cit.)
and Pistelli (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ttal., N.S. xxiv. 60), superest ut intueare,
as above.

2 The reading in the text is an ingenious conjecture of Witte's,
who supposes that the original reading (corrupted in the MS. to
subtraxit aut) was s. ubi ait aut. Sabbadini (loc. cit.) proposes to read
'superest ut (or 'sequitur ut') intueare sub transitu ; ait equidem
in fabula . . . \

3 That is, Bacchus ; the allusion is to the story told by Ovid
(Metam. iv. 1-35, 389-415) of the three daughters (Alcithoe,
Arcippe, and Leucippe) of Minyas of Boeotia, who refused to join
in the worship of Bacchus during his festival, and spent the time
weaving instead, whereupon they were changed into bats, and
their work into a vine.

EPISTOLA III (IV) 25

nymphis aliis derelictis atque neglectis in quas prius

exarserat a , noviter Leucothoen * diligebat) : ' Quid nunc

Hyperione b nate \ 2 et reliqua. 3
50 § 5. Sub hoc, frater carissime, ad potentiam c quod d 40

contra Rhamnusiae 64 spicula sis patiens f te exhortor.

Perlege, deprecor, Fortuitorum Remedia 5 , quae ab incly-
55 tissimo philosophorum Seneca nobis, velut a patre filiis

ministrantur; et illud de memoria sane^ tua non defluat 6 :

' Si de mundo, fuissetis, mundus quod suum erat dili- 45

geret.' 7

a MS. exarsera b MS. operione c MS. prootentiam

A MS.quam e US.raynusie f MS. paties e M.S. sana

• x Daughter of the Babylonian king Orchamus ; the reference is
to Ovid's account (Metam. iv. 192 ff.) of how Apollo (as the Sun)
was taunted with having deserted all the other nymphs whom he
had loved, and with being enslaved by Leucothoe alone.
2 That is, Apollo (the Sun).

Quid nunc, Hyperione nate,
Forma colorque tibi radiataque lumina prosunt ?
Nempe tuis omnes qui terras ignibus uris,
Ureris igne novo ; quique omnia cernere debes
LeucothoSn spectas, et virgine figis in una
Quos mundo debes oculos . . .

Diligis hanc unam ; nec te Clymeneque Rhodosque,
Nec tenet Aeaeae genetrix pulcherrima Circes,
Quaeque tuos Clytie quamvis despecta petebat
Concubitus, ipsoque illo grave vulnus habebat
Tempore. Leucothoe multarum oblivia fecit. . . .

{Metam. iv. 192-7, 204-8.)
4 Name applied to Nemesis, the goddess of retributive justice
(Ovid, Metam. iii. 406 ; xiv. 694 ; Trist. v. 8, 9), from a celebrated
temple in her honour at Rhamnus in Attica.

6 The Liber ad Galionem de Eemediis Fortuitorum of Martinus
Dumiensis, Archbishop of Braga (d. c. 580), commonly in the
Middle Ages attributed to Seneca.

6 Cf. the similar phrase in Epist. vii. 76-7 : ' ab Augusti circum-
spectione non defluat'. 7 John xv. 19.

26 LETTERS OF DANTE

[Sonetto]

[Io sono stato con Amore insieme
Dalla circolazion del Sol mia nona,
E so com'egli affrena e come sprona,
E come sotto a lui si ride e geme.

Chi ragione o virtu contro gli spreme
Fa come quei che'n la tempesta suona,
Credendo far cola dove si tuona
Esser le guerre de'vapori sceme.

Perd nel cerchio della sua balestra
Liber arbitrio giammai non fu franco,
Si che consiglio invan vi si balestra :

Ben puo con nuovi spron punger lo fianco,
E qual che sia '1 piacer ch' ora n' addestra,
Seguitar si convien se 1'altro e stanco.] 1

1 See above, p. 21, n. 6 ; Cino's sonnet, to which the above is the
reply, is as follows : —

Dante, quando per caso s'abbandona
II disio amoroso de la speme,
Che nascer fanno gli occhi del bel seme,
Di quel piacer, che dentro si ragiona,

I* dico poi se morte gli perdona ;

Se poi ella tien piii delle duo streme ?
L'alma gentil, la qual morir non teme,
Se tramutar si puo'n altra persona?

E cio mi fa quella, che e maestra

Di tutte cose, e per quel ch' io sent' anco
L'entrata lascio per la ria finestra ;

Per lei che '1 mio creder non e manco
Che prima stato sia, o dentro, o estra,
Rotto mi sono ogni mie ossa e fianco.

(ed. Ciampi, Son. cxxix.)
This sonnet, the text of which apparently is corrupt, was translated
by Rossetti in Dante and his Circle, p. 187.

EPISTOLA III (IV) 27

Translation

To the Exile from Pistoja a Florentine undeservedly in exile
wishes health through long years and thc continuance of
fervent love.

§ 1. The warmth of your affection has addressed to me
an expression of signal confidence, wherein, my dearest
friend, you put the question whether the soul can pass
from passion to passion ; that is to say, from one passion
to another, the nature of the passion remaining the same,
but the objects being different, not in kind, but in
identity. Although the answer would more properly
have come from your own lips, you have nevertheless
chosen to make me the arbiter, to the end that by the
solution of this much debated question you might en-
hance the renown of my name. How welcome, how
grateful this was to me when I heard of it, words could
not convey without falling lamentably short of the truth ;
wherefore you, being acquainted with the cause of my
reticence, must yourself take the measure of what I have
left unexpressed.

§ 2. Behold, there is given below a discourse in the
diction of Calliope, wherein the Muse declares in set
phrase (though, as poets use, the meaning is conveyed
under a figure) that love for one object may languish and
finally die away, and that (inasmuch as the corruption of
one thing is the begetting of another) love for a second
may take shape in the soul.

§ 3. And the truth of this, although it is proved by
experience, may be confirmed by reason and authority.
For every faculty which is not destroyed after the con-
summation of one act is naturally reserved for another.
Consequently the faculties of sense, if the organ survives,
are not destroyed by the consummation of one act, but
are naturally reserved for another. Since, then, the
appetitive faculty, which is the seat of love, is a faculty
of sense, it is manifest that after the exhaustion of the
passion by which it was brought into operation it is
reserved for another. The major and minor propositions

28 LETTERS OF DANTE

of the syllogism, the entrance to which lies open without
difficulty, may be left to your diligence for proof. 1

§ 4. It remains to consider the authority of Ovid in
the fourth book of the Metamorphoses, which bears
directly and literally upon our proposition ; fnamely, the
passage wherein the author sayst 2 (in the story of the
three sisters who were contemptuous of the son of
Semele), addressing the Sun, who after he had deserted
and neglected other nymphs of whom he had previously
been enamoured, was newly in love with Leucothoe,
' What now, Son of Hyperion ', and what follows.

§ 5. In conclusion, dearest brother, I exhort you, so
far as in you lies, 3 to arm yourself with patience against
the darts of Nemesis. Kead, I beg you, the Bemedies
against Fortune, which are offered to us, as it were by
a father to his sons, by that most farnous philosopher
Seneca ; and especially let that saying not pass from your
memory: 'If ye were of the world, the world would
love his own.'

[Sonnet.]

[I have passed my days in fellowship with Love
E'er since the circling Sun my ninth year closed ;
I know how he can ply or curb or spur,
And how folk laugh or groan who are his thralls.

1 The argument appears to be as follows : Every faculty not
destroyed by one act is reserved for another act ; but, every faculty
of sense (if the organ survives) is a faculty not destroyed by one
act ; therefore, every faculty of sense (if the organ survives) is
reserved for another act ; but, the appetitive faculty is a faculty
of sense ; therefore, the appetitive faculty (if the organ survives)
is reserved for another act.

2 This sentence is inserted conjocturally in the Latin text (see
above, p. 24, n. 2).

3 'Ad potentiam'; Fraticelli takes the meaning to be : ' with
regard to, a propos of faculties ' (' dopo di questo che le nostre
potenze risguarda').

EPISTOLA IV (III) 29

Reason or virtue who 'gainst him puts forth
Is like to one should pipe amid the storm,
And think thereby to quell the thunder's rage,
And calm the warring elements on high.

Wherefore within the compass of his darts
Free-will for ever in his danger lies ;
'Gainst him in vain will counsel's shaft be sped.

For with new spur his victim's flank he'll ply;
And be the new-born passion what it may,
This will be master, if the other pall.]

EPISTOLA IV (III) 1

('Ne lateant dominum')

To the Marquis Moroello Malaspina

[c. 1309]

MSS. — This letter, like that to the Cardinal Niccolo da Prato
(Epist. i) and that to the Counts of Romena (Epist. ii), has been
preserved only in the Cent. xiv Vatican MS. (Cod. Vat.-Palat.
Lat. 1729), in which it occurs seventh in order of the nine
letters contained in the MS., being placed between Epist. ii and
Epist. i. 2

Pkinted Texts. 3 — 1. Witte (1842) : in Dante AlighierPs
lyrische Gedichte, ubersetzt und erklart von K L. Kannegiesser
und K. Witte (Leipzig, 1842; Part ii, pp. 235-6). 2. Torri
(1842) : Epist. iii (op. cit., p. 12). 3. Troya (1856) : in Del Vel-
tro Allegorico de 1 Ghibellini (pp. 307-8). 4. Fraticelli (1857) :
Epist. iii (op. cit., p.454). 5. Giuliani (1882) : Epist. iii (op. cit.,
pp. 6-7). 6. Moore (1894) : Epist. iii (op. cit., pp. 404-5). 7.
Zenatti (1901): in Dante e Firenze (pp. 431-2). 8. F. Torraca
(1903) : in Bullettino della Societa Dantesca Italiana (N.S., x. 143).

1 Epist. iii in the Oxforcl Dante (see above, p. 21, n. 4).
- See above, p. 1.

3 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

30 LETTERS OF DANTE

9. F. Novati (1909) : (with photographic reproduction from the
MS.) in Dante e la Lunigiana (Milano, 1909 ; pp. 519-20). 10.
Passerini (1910) : Epist. iii (op. <&., pp. 18-20). 11. Paget
Toynbee (1912) : (diplomatic transcript of the MS. text, together
with collations of the various readings of the several printed
editions of the letter, and a list of proposed emendations in the
Oxford text) in Modern Language Review (vol. vii, pp. 27-9).
12. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. vi. (op. cit, pp. 243-4).

Translations. 1 — Italian. 1. Torri (1842): op. cit., p. 13.
2. Fraticelli (1857) : op. cit., p. 455. 3. G. Pascoli (1902) : in
La Mirabile Visione (Messina, 1902 ; pp. 362-3). 4. Passerini
(1910): op.cit., pp. 19-21. — German. 1. Kannegiesser (1845):
op. cit., pp. 171-2. 2. C. Krafft (1859): in Dante Alighieris
lyrische Gedichte und poetischer Briefwechsel, Text, Ubersetzung
und Erkldrung (Regensburg, 1859 ; pp. 393-4). 3. Scartazzini
(1879) : (extracts) in Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein Leben und
seine Werke (p. 341). — English. 1. Latham (1891): op. cit.,
pp. 65-6. 2. Wicksteed (1904) : op. cit., pp. 301-2. 3. C. H.
Gramigent (1917): (11. 12-38) in The Ladies of DantJs Lyrics
(Cambridge, U.S.A., 1917 ; pp. 97-8). 4. Paget Toynbee : (see
below, pp. 39-40).

Authenticity.— As in the case oiEpist. ii, the original title
of the letter has not been preserved, the superscription in the
MS., which assigns the letter to Dante, and gives the name
of his correspondent, being due to an earlier compiler or
copyist of the collection contained in the MS. 2 The attribution
to Dante, though decisively rejected by some critics, 3 is now
very generally accepted, the internal evidence being strongly
in favour of its authenticity. 4 The letter was known to

1 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, p. 2.

2 See above, p. 12.

3 See, for instance, Zingarelli in Eassegna critica clella Lelteratura
Italiana (1899), iv. 3 ff. ; and his Dante, pp. 222-3.

4 See Zenatti, Dante e Firenze, pp. 430-62 ; and Novati, in Dante e
la Lunigiana, pp. 507-42.

EPISTOLA IV (III) 31

Boccaccio, who incorporated portions of it in a letter of his
own ('Ignoto Militi', beginning, ' Mavortis miles extrenue' 1 ),
written in 1838 or 1339, within twenty years of Dante's death. 2
It was also known to Sennuccio Del Bene (d. 1349), who utilized
it (as well as Dante's sonnet, ' Io sono stato con Arnore insieme ',
which accompanied his letter to Cino da Pistoja 3 ) in a sonnet
introducing a canzone,* which contains imitations of the can-
zone of Dante accompanying the present letter. 5

Date. — That Dante was in relations with the Malaspini in
Lunigiana in the autumn of 1306 is known from extant
documents dated October 6 of that year. 6 From these it
appears that he then, as the guest of Franceschino Malaspina
at Sarzana, 7 acted as procurator for the Malaspina family
in their negotiations for peace with their neighbour, the Bishop
of Luni, which by his means was successfully concluded. The
duration of his stay with the Malaspini is uneertain, but it
probably did not last beyond the summer of 1307. The present

1 The text of Boccaeeio's letter is printed in full, with the
parallel passages from Dante's letter, by Vandelli in Bull. Soc. Dant.
Ital., N.S. vii. 64-7, from the Laurentian MS. xxix. 8, the only MS.
in which it has been preserved, and in which, as Hauvette has
shown in his Notes sur des manuscrits autographes cle Boccace a la
Bibliotheque Laurentienne (pp. 22 ff.), it is written in Boccaccio's own
hand.

2 Boccaccio was at this time a young man of five-and-twenty ; as
to his motive in utilizing the letter, see Zenatti, op. cit., pp. 458-9 ;
and Torraca, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. x. 139-40.

3 See above, p. 21, n. 6.

4 Both sonnet and canzone are printed in Rime di Trecentisti Minori,
ed. G. Volpi (Firenze, 1907), pp. 35-7.

5 See Parodi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital.. N.S. xvii. 79-80.

6 The documents have been several times printed, e. g. by
Fraticelli in his Vita di Dante, pp. 197-204 ; and in Report XI {1892)
ofthe Cambridge (U.S.A.) Dante Socieiy, pp. 15-24.

7 This visit to the Malaspini, 'the honoured race which ceases
not to be adorned with the glory of the purse and of the sword ', is
foretold to Dante by Franceschino's first cousin, Currado Mala-
spina, whom he meets in Purgatory (Purg. viii. 118-39).

32 LETTERS OF DANTE

letter, accompanied by a canzone, 1 describing how the writer
had been overcome by a tempestuous passion for a lady he had
met in the valley of the Arno, was written, apparently from
the Casentino, after Dante's departure from Lunigiana, perhaps
in 1308, but at any rate before 1310. 2

Addressee. — At the time the letter was written there were
several members of the Malaspina family who bore the name
of Moroello 3 ; but Dante's correspondent is usually identified
with Moroello III, the Guelf captain, 41 vapor di Valdimagra '
of Inf. xxiv. 145, the son of Manfredi da Giovagallo (d. 1282)
of the 'Spino Secco' branch of the family. This Moroello
was first cousin of Currado II (Purg. viii. 65, 118) and of
Franceschino, Dante's host at Sarzana in 1307 , 4 and grandson
of Currado I (Purg. viii. 119). 5 He married Alagia de' Fieschi,
niece of Pope Adrian V (Purg. xix. 142), and died about the
year 1315. 6 Boccaccio, in his Vita di Dante? relates that it
was while under Moroello's roof in Lunigiana 8 that Dante was
induced to continue the Commedia, the composition of which
had been interrupted by his exile from Florence ; he further

1 Canz. xi : 'Amor, dacche convien pur ch' io mi doglia' (see
below, pp. 36-8).

2 See Zenatti, op. cit, pp. 450-1. Torraca, on the other hand, who
argues that the 'curia' of 1. 10 of the letter was that of the
Emperor Henry VII, not that of the Malaspini, holds that the
letter was written in 1311 (see Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. x. 147).

3 See the article I Malaspina ricordati da Dante by Staffetti, in
Bartoli's Storia della Letteratura Italiana, vol. vi 2 , pp. 265-303 ; and
also his article in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. vi. 114 ff.

4 See above.

5 See Table XXVI a in Dante Dictionary.

6 See the account of him in Dante Dictionary, p. 354.

7 § 14, ed. Macri-Leone.

8 Filippo Villani also records Dante's visit to Moroello, and
states in so many words that on leaving him Dante betook himself
to the Casentino (whence this letter is supposed to have been
written, see above) : — ? A Moruello . . . decedens, Casentinum
applicuit ' (Expositio super Comedia Dantis, § 3, ed. Cugnoni).

EPISTOLA IV (III) 33

states x that, according to some, it was to Moroello that Dante
dedicated the Purgatorio.

Summary.— § 1. Lest false reports should reach Moroello
as to the cause of his silence, Dante writes to explain the real
reason, and thereby to excuse himself from the charge of
neglect. § 2. On reaching the banks of the Arno, after his
departure from the court of Moroello, he was suddenly con-
founded by the apparition of a lady, at the sight of whom, in
spite of all his previous resolutions to keep his thoughts from
women, Love once again took possession of him, and, making
an end of his meditations upon higher things, reduced him
to a state of utter subjection to his will, in which condition
he now writes. The manner in which Love exercises his
tyranny Moroello will learn from the canzone 2 which accom-
panies the letter.

[Scribit Dantes Domino Moroello* Marchioni Mala-
spinae. 3 ]

§ 1. Ne lateant dominum vincula 4 servi sui, quam 3

affectus gratuitas b6 dominantis, c et ne alia relata pro

5 aliis, quae falsarum opinionum seminaria frequentius

MS. = Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729 0. - Oxford Dante

a MS. Maroello b MS. gratuitatis ° 0. quem affectus gratitudinis
dominantur

1 § 15, ed. Macri-Leone.

2 Parallel passages from this ca)izone (Canz. xi in the Oxford Dante)
are given in the subjoined notes.

3 As to the identity of the Marquis Moroello, see above, p. 32.

4 Canz., 1. 82 : ' una catena il serra'.

5 This quam is the correlative of tam omitted or understood
before vincula ; for the omission of tam in similar cases, see Bull.
Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix. 265, and xxii. 144, n.

6 This emendation is due to K. Sabbadini (see Giornale Dantesco,
xx (1912). 163; *ee also Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix. 17-18,
23, n. 1).

2165 D

34 LETTERS OF DANTE

esse solent, negligentem a praedicent carceratum, ad
conspectum Magnificentiae * vestrae praesentis oraculi b 5
seriem 2 placuit destinare.

io § 2. Igitur mihi a limine suspiratae postea curiae
separato, in qua (velut saepe sub admiratione vidistis)
fas fuit sequi libertatis officia, quum primum pedes iuxta
Sarni 3 fluenta securus et incautus defigerem, 4 subito io

15 heu ! mulier, ceu fulgur descendens, 5 apparuit, nescio
quomodo, meis auspitiis 6 undique moribus et forma d

* 0. neghgeuier b 0. oratiunculae c MS. suspirare

d O.fortunae

1 Instances of ' Magnificentia ' as a title of honour (cf. Epist. vii*
tit, where it is applied to the Emperor Henry VII ; and Epist. x. 1,
603, where it is applied to Can Grande) are of fiequent occurrence
in the Regesta Pontificum Romanorum ; thus the title • Regia Magnifi-
centia ' is applied by Innocent III (March 1, 1201) to the Emperor
OttoIV(ed. Potthast, No. 1292); and by Honorius III (Dec. 11,
1220) to the Emperor Frederick II (Potth. No. 6434) ; and that of
'Imperialis Magnificentia ' by Gregory IX (Jan. 19, 1281) to the
same Emperor (Potth. No. 8653).

2 Novati has shovvn that ' oraculi series ' here (with which com-
pare ' literarum series ' in Epist. i. 22-3) means nothing more nor
less than 'a letter' (see Dante e la Lunigiana, pp. 527-9, 541,
nn. 34, 35).

3 In his Latin works Dante always calls the Arno Sarnus ; cf.
V. E. i. 6, 1. 19 ; Epist. vi. 108 ; vii. 141, 191 ; Ecl. i. 44.

4 Canz., 11. 61-3: ' Cosi m' hai concio, Amore, in mezzo 1'Alpi,
Nella valle del fiume, Lungo il qual sempre sopra me sei forte.'

5 Canz., 11. 65-6 : ' il fiero lume, Che folgorando fa via alla morte ';
cf. Aen. viii. 524.

6 ; Wishes ', • hopes ' ; cf. Epist. v. 7 : ' auspitia gentium blanda
serenitate confortat ' ; Epist. vii* : ' mundi Gubernator aeternus . . .
ad auspitia Caesaris et Augustae dexteram gratiae coadiutricis
extendat ' ; and Epist. vii*** : ' dextera Summi Regis vota Caesaris et
Augustae feliciter adimplebat' (see Torraca, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital,
N.S. x. 143).

EPISTOLA* IV (III) 35

conformis. O quam in eius apparitione a obstupui !
Sed stupor subsequentis tonitrui 1 terrore cessavit.

20 Nam sicut diurnis b2 coruscationibus illico succedunt 15
tonitrua, sic inspecta flamma pulchritudinis huius c amor
terribilis et imperiosus me tenuit. 3 Atque hic ferox,
tamquam dominus pulsus a patria post longum exilium

25 sola in sua repatrians, quidquid eius d contrarium fuerat
intra me, vel occidit, vel expulit, vel ligavit. Occidit 4 20

a 0. admiratione b O. divinis c 0. eius d MS. enim ; 0. ei

1 Canz., 1. 57 : ' quel tuono, che mi giunse addosso '. Gen. tonitrui
comes from the nom. tonitruum, a form which occurs frequently in
the Vulgate (e.g. Job xxxviii. 25: • viam sonantis tonitrui';
Mark iii. 17: 'Boanerges, quod est, Filii tonitrui'); cf. Giovanni
da Genova in the Catholicon : ' hic tonitrus, -trus, . . . et hoc toni-
truum, tonitrui \

2 Boccaccio, who incorporated this passage in the letter men-
tioned above (see p. 31), has divinis ; the reading of the MS. is
quite clear — the meaning apparently is ' of everyday occurrence ',
' such as happen in our everyday experience '.

3 Canz., 11. 22-5 : ' la riguarda, e . . . s'adira, Ch' ha fatto il foco
ov'ella trista incende '.

* Novati (pp. cit., pp. 531-3) argues at some length that this
second occidit should be taken, not as from occido, as before, but as
from occido ; and he explains : ' propositum occidit come sol occidiV, in
which he is followed by Passerini, who renders 'cadde cosi quel
laudabil proposito '. But this seems quite unnecessary ; and,
moreover, it destroys the Dantesque symmetry of the whole
passage, besides involving a very awkward construction, necessi-
tating the change of subject from amor to propositum, and then back
again to amor. Occidit here is surely the same verb as in the
previous sentence. Dante says, Love 'slew {occidit) or expelled
(expulit) or fettered (ligavit) ' whatever was opposed to himself in
Dante ; and he then proceeds to give an instance of each of these
acts — Love slew (occidit), i. e. made an end of, Dante's resolve to
keep aloof from women ; he banished (relegavit) Dante's meditations
on higher things ; and he fettered (ligavit) Dante's free will. (The
use of relegavit, instead of the repetition of expulit, as in the case

D 2

36 LETTERS OF DANTE

ergo propositum illud laudabile, quo a mulieribus suis-
que a cantibus * abstinebam ; ac meditationes assiduas

30 quibus tam coelestia quam terrestria intuebar, b2 quasi
suspectas, impie relegavit; et denique, ne contra se
amplius anima rebellaret, liberum meum ligavit arbi- 25

35 trium, ut non quo ego, sed quo ille vult, me verti
oporteat. 3 Regnat itaque amor in me, nulla refragante
virtute 4 ; qualiterque me regat, inferius extra sinum
praesentium 5 requiratis.

[Canzone 6 ]

[Amor, dacche convien pur ch' io mi doglia,
Perche la gente m' oda,
E mostri me d'ogni virtute spento,
Dammi savere a pianger come voglia:
Si che 1 duol che si snoda
Portin le mie parole, come '1 sento.

a MS. suis b MS. intuebat

of occidit and ligavit, is doubtless to be accounted for by the exi-
gencies of the cursus, * impie relegavit ' giving the desired velox, the
fourth in a succession of five — ' expulit vel ligavit ', ' cantibus
abstinebam ', ' (ter)restria intuebar ', ' impie relegavit ', ' anima
rebellaret').

1 Torraca (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. x. 140-1) proposes to read
k satis cautus abstinebam ' ; but this violates the cursus, which is
strictly observed by Dante, ' cantibus abstinebam ' giving a velox
(see previous noteV

2 No doubt the meditations which bore fruit in the Commedia,
1 il poema sacro, Al quale ha posto mano e cielo e terra ' (Par. xxv.
1-2).

3 Canz., 11. 31-3, 38-40 : ' La nemica figura, che rimane Vittoriosa
e fera, E signoreggia la virtu che vuole . . . Fo come colui, Che nel
podere altrui Va co' suoi pie cola dov' egli e morto '.

4 Canz., 1. 3 : ' d'ogni virtute spento '.

5 That is, in the subjoined cansone.

6 Canz. xi in the Oxford Dante.

EPISTOLA IV (III) 37

Tu vuoi ch' io muoia, ed io ne son contento:

Ma chi mi scusera, s' io non so dire

Cio, che mi fai sentire?

Chi credera ch' io sia omai si colto? 10

Ma se mi dai parlar quanto tormento,

Fa, signor mio, che innanzi al mio morire

Questa rea per me nol possa udire ;

Che, se intendesse cio ch' io dentro ascolto,

Pieta faria men bello il suo bel volto.

Io non posso fuggir, ch' ella non vegna
Nell' immagine mia,
Se non come il pensier che la vi mena.
1/ anima folle, che al suo mal s'ingegna,
Com* ella e bella e ria 20

Cosi dipinge, e forma la sua pena:
Poi la riguarda, e quando ella e ben piena
Del gran desio, che dagli occhi le tira,
Incontro a se s' adira,

Ch' ha fatto il foco, ov' ella trista ! incende.
Quale argomento di ragion raffrena,
Ove tanta tempesta in me si gira?
L' angoscia che non cape dentro, spira
Fuor della bocca si, ch' ella s'intende,
Ed anche agli occhi lor merito rende. 30

La nemica figura, che rimane
Vittoriosa e fera,
E signoreggia la virtu che vuole,
Vaga di se medesma andar mi fane
Cola, dov' ella e vera,
Come simile a simil correr suole.
Ben conosch' io che va la neve al sole ;
Ma piti non posso : fo come colui,
Che nel podere altrui

Va co' suoi pie cola, dov' egli e morto. 40

Quando son presso, parmi udir parole
Dicer : Via via ; vedrai morir costui ?
Allor mi volgo per vedere a cui
Mi raccomandi : a tanto sono scorto
Dagli occhi, che m' ancidono a gran torto.

LETTERS OF DANTE

Qual io divegna si feruto, Amore,

Sal contar tu, non io,

Che rimani a veder me senza vita :

E se 1' anima torna poscia al core,

Ignoranza ed oblio 50

Stato e con lei, mentre ch' ella e partita.

Com' io risurgo, e miro la ferita,

Che mi disfece quando io fui percosso,

Confortar non mi posso

Si, ch' io non tremi tutto di paura.

E mostra poi la faccia scolorita

Qual fu quel tuono, che mi giunse addosso ;

Che se con dolce riso e stato mosso,

Lunga fiata poi rimane oscura,

Perche lo spirto non si rassicura. 60

Cosi m' hai concio, Amore, in mezzo 1' Alpi,

Nella valle del fiume,

Lungo il qual sempre sopra me sei forte.

Qui vivo e morto, come vuoi, mi palpi

Merce del fiero lume,

Che folgorando fa via alla morte.

Lasso ! non donne qui, non genti accorte

Vegg' io, a cui incresca del mio male.

Se a costei non ne cale,

Non spero mai da altrui aver soccorso : 70

E questa, sbandeggiata di tua corte,

Signor, non cura colpo di tuo strale:

Fatto ha d' orgoglio al petto schermo tale,

Ch' ogni saetta li spunta suo corso;

Per che 1' armato cuor da nulla e morso.
montanina mia canzon, tu vai ;

Forse vedrai Fiorenza la mia terra,

Che fuor di se mi serra,

Vota d' amore, e nuda di pietate :

Se dentro v' entri, va dicendo : Omai So

Non vi puo fare il mio signor piti guerra ;

La, ond' io vegno, una catena il serra

Tal, che se piega vostra crudeltate,

Non ha di ritornar piu libertate. ]

EPISTOLA IV (III) 39

Translation
[Dante writes to the Lord Moroello, Marquis Malaspina.~\

§ 1. Lest the lcrd 3hould be ignorant of the bonds of
his servant, and of the spontaneity of the affection by
which he is governed, and lest reports spread abroad at
variance with the facts, which too often are wont to prove
seed-beds of false opinion, should proclaim to be guilty
of negligence him who is a captive, it has seemed good
to me to address to the eyes of your Magnificence this
present epistle. 1

§ 2. It befell, then, that after my departure from the
threshold of that court (which I since have so yearned
for), wherein, as you often remarked with amaze, I was
privileged to be enrolled in the service of liberty, no
sooner had I set foot by the streams of Arno, in all
security and heedlessness, than suddenly, woe is me !
like a flash of lightning from on high, a woman appeared,
I know not how, in all respects answering to my inclina-
tions 2 both in character and appearance. Oh ! how was
Idumbfounded at the sight of her ! But my stupefaction
gave place before the terror of the thunder that followed.
For just as in our everyday experience 8 the thunder-clap
instantaneously follows the flash, so, at the sight of
the blaze of this beauty, Love, terrible and imperious,
straightway laid hold on me. And he, raging like a
despot expelled from his fatherland, who returns to his
native soil after long exile, slew or expelled or fettered
whatsoever within me was opposed to him. He slew,
then, that praiseworthy resolve which held me aloof
from women and from songs about women ; and he
pitilessly banished as suspect those unceasing meditations
wherein I used to ponder the things of heaven and of
earth ; and, finally, that my soul might never again rebei
against him, he fettered my free will, so that it hehoves

1 ' Praesentis oraeuli seriem ' ; see above. p. 34, n. 2.

2 ' Auspitiis ' ; see above, p. 34, n. 6.

3 ' Diurnis ' ; see above, p. 35, n. 2.

40 LETTERS OF DANTE

me to turn me not whither I will, but whither he wills.
Love, therefore, reigns within me, with no restraining
influence ; and in what manner he rules me you must
inquire from what follows below outside the limits of
this present writing.

[Canzone.]

[Love, since 'tis meet that I should tell my woe,

That men may list to me,
And show myself with all my manhood gone,
Grant that I may content in weeping know;

So that my grief set free
My words may utter, with my sense at one.
Thou wnTst my death, and I consent thereon ;
But who will pardon if I lack the art

To tell my pain of heart ?
Who will believe what now doth me constrain?
But if from thee fit words for grief are won,
Grant, my Lord, that, ere my life depart,
That cruel fair one may not hear my pain,
For, of my inward grief were she made ware,
Sorrow would make her beauteous face less fair.
I cannot scape from her, but she will come

Within my phantasy,
More than I can the thought that brings her there:
The frenzied soul that brings its own ill home,

Painting her faithfully,
Lovely and stern, its own doom doth prepare:
Then looks on her, and when it filled doth fare
With the great longing springing from mine eyes,

Wroth with itself doth rise,
That lit the fire where it, poor soul ! doth burn.
What plea of reason calms the stormy air
When such a tempest whirls o'er inward skies?
The grief it cannot hold breaks forth in sighs,
From out my lips that others too may learn,
And gives mine eyes the tears they truly earn.
The image of my fair foe which doth stay

Victorious and proud,
And lords it o'er my faculty of will,
Desirous of itself, doth make me stray

There, where its truth is showed,
As like to like its course directing still.
Like snow that seeks the sun, so fare I ill;
But I am powerless, and I am as they

Who thither take their way

EPISTOLA IV (III) 41

As others bid, where they must fall as dead.
When I draw near, a voice mine ears doth fill,
Which saith : Away ! seek'st thou his death to see ?
Then look I out, and search to whom to flee
For succour: — to this pass I now am led
By those bright eyes that baleful lustre shed.
What I become when smitten thus, Love,

Thou can'st relate, not I ;
For thou dost stay to look while I lie dead,
And if my soul back to my heart should move,

Blind loss of memory
Hath been with her while she from earth hath fled.
When I rise up, and see the wound that bled,
And cast me down sore smitten by the blow, r

No comfort can I know
To keep me from the shuddering thrill of fear;
And then my looks, with pallor o'er them spread,
Show what that lightning was that laid me low.
For, grant it came with sweet smile all aglow,
Long time all clouded doth my face appear,
Because my spirit gains no safety clear.
Thus thou hast brought me, Love, to Alpine vale,

Where flows the river bright,
Along whose banks thou still o'er me dost reign.
Alive or dead thou dost at will assail,

Thanks to the fierce keen light
Which flashing opes the way for Death's campaign.
Alas ! for ladies fair I look in vain,
Or kindly men, to pity my deep woe.

If she unheeding go,
I have no hope that others help will send,
And she, no longer bound to thy domain,
Cares not, Sire, for dart that thou dost throw;
Such shield of pride around her breast doth go,
That every dart thereon its course doth end;
And thus her heart against them doth defend.
Dear mountain song of mine, thou goest thy way,
Perchance thou'lt Florence see, mine own dear land,

That drives me doomed and banned,
Showing no pity, and devoid of love.
If thou dost enter there, pass on, and say,
'My Lord no more against you can wage war,
There, whence I come, his chains so heavy are,
That, though thy fierce wrath placable should prove,
No longer freedom hath he thence to move '.] l

1 Plumptre's translation.

EPISTOLA V

(' Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile ')

To the Princes and Peoples of Italy
[Sept. or Oct. 1310]

MSS. — The Latin text of this letter (which was first known in
an early Italian translation, 1 formerly attributed to Marsilio
Ficino) has been preserved in two MSS., both of the fourteenth
century : namely, the Vatican MS. (Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729)
already mentioned, in which it occurs last of the nine letters
attributed to Dante in the MS., 2 and in which the text is in
several places defective ; and Cod. S. Pantaleo 8 in the Biblioteca
Vittorio Emanuele at Rome, which contains also the Latin text,
and an Italian translation, of Dante's letter to the Emperor
Henry VII (Epist. vii). 3 These two texts are independent, as is
evident from the fact that the hiatus in the Vatican MS. do
not occur in the other.

Printed Texts. 4 -1. F. Torricelli (1842): in Anlologia di
Fossombrone (Fossombrone, 1842; vol. i, pp. 339-44). 2. Torri
(1842): Epist. v (op. cit, pp. 28-32). 3. Fraticelli (1857):
Epist. v (op. cit., pp. 464-70). 4. Giuliani (1882): Epist. v
(op. cit., pp. 12-16). 5. Scartazzini (1890) : in Prolegomeni
della Divina Commedia (Leipzig, 1890 ; pp. 101-4). 6. Moore

1 See below, p. 43. 2 See above, p. 1.

s See Barbi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital. N.S. ii. 23. The MS. prob-
ably belongs to the latter half of the fourteenth century. Colomb
de Batines, who deseribes it in his Bibliografia Dantesca (ii. 208-9),
assigns it to the first half of the fifteenth century. Besides the
ietters of Dante above mentioned, this MS., which belonged at one
time to Celso Cittadini (1555-1627), contains the text of the Divina
Commedia, lyrical poems of Dante and of Guido Cavalcanti, and
other matter (see De Batines, loc. cit.).

4 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

EPISTOLA V 43

(1894): Epist v (op. cit., pp. 405-7). 7. Passerini (1910):
Epist. v (op. cit, pp. 28-42). 8. Paget Toynbee (1912) : (diplo-
matic transcripts of the MS. texts, together with collations of
the various readings of the printed editions of the letter, and
a list of proposed emendations in the Oxford text) in Modern
Language Review (vol. vii, pp. 27-9, 215-22). 9. Paget Toynbee
(1915): (critical text, with list of passages in which this text
differs from that of the Oxford Bante) in Modern Language
Review (vol. x, pp. 151-6). 10. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. viii
(op. cit, pp. 247-53).

Translations. 1 — Italian. 1. Anon. 2 (Cent. xv) : printed
by P. Lazzari (1754), in Miscellaneorum ex MSS. Libris Biblio-
thecae Collegii Romani Societatis Jesu Tomus Primus (Romae,
1754; pp. 139-44); by F. de Romanis (1815), in the notes to
Tiraboschi's Vita di Dante, in Divina Commedia (Roma, 1815-17 ;
vol. iv, pp. 42-4) 3 ; by I. Moutier (1823), from Cod. Riccardiano
1304, in Cronica di Giovanni Villani (Firenze, 1823; vol. viii,
pp. lvii-lxiii) ; by Witte (1827), in Dantis Alligherii Epistolae
quae exstant (Patavii, 1827 ; pp. 19-26) j by Fraticelli (1840), in
DantisAligherii Epistolae quae exstant (Florentiae, 1840; pp. 213-
22) ; by Torricelli (1842), 4 in Antologia di Fossombrone (vol. i,
p. 296) ; by Torri (1842), op. cit., pp. 147-50. 2. Cesare Balbo
(1839) : (extracts) in Vita di Danie (Torino, 1839 ; ed. Firenze,
1853, pp. 325-7). 3. Torri(1842) : op. cit, pp. 29-33. 4. Fraticelli
(1857) : op. cit, pp. 465-71. 5. Passerini (1910) : op. cit, pp. 29-43.
6. M. Scherillo (1918) : (extracts) in Le Origini e lo Svolgimento della
Letteratura Italiana (Milano, 1918 ; vol. i, pp. 16Q-7 ). — German.
1. Kannegiesser (1845): op. cit., pp. 175-9. 2. Scartazzini
(1879) : (extracts) in Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein Leben und

1 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
p. 2.

2 Formerly attributed to Marsilio Ficino (1433-99), who trans-
lated Dante's Be Monarchia into Italian.

3 For other editions of the Commedia in which the translation ol
this letter is printed, see Koch, Catalogue ofthe CornellDante Collection,
vol. i, p. 75.

4 Torricelli printed only §§ 1-3 and a part of § 4.

44 LETTERS OF DANTE

seine Werke (pp. 384-5, 387-9). 8. F. X. Kraus (1897) : (ex-
tracts) in Dante, sein Leben und sein Werk (Berlin, 1897 ; pp.
298-9).— English. 1. F. J. Bunbury (1852) : (extracts) in Life
and Times of Dante Alighieri (London, 1852 ; vol. ii, pp. 129-32).
2. Latham (1891) : op. cit., pp. 133-40. 3. Wicksteed (1898) :
in A Provisional Translation of Dante^s Political Letters (Hull,
1898; pp. 5-9). 4. Wicksteed (1904): (revised trans.) in
Translation ofthe Latin Works of Dante Alighieri (pp. 308-13).
5. Paget Toynbee : (see below, pp. 58-62).

Authenticity.— This letter, as to the authenticity of which
there can be no doubt, is one of three -which were written by
Dante in his own name (in each he describes himself as' Dantes
Alagherii Florentinus et exul immeritus ') with especial reference^
to the advent of the Emperor Henry VII into Italy— in the
present letter he exhorts the Princes and Peoples of Italy to
receive the Emperor as their rightful sovereign, in obedience to
the recommendation of Pope Clement V ; in the next (Epist. vi)
he denounces the rebellious Florentines who opposed his
coming; in the third (Epist. vii) he addresses the Emperor
himself, and beseeches him to hasten his advance into Tuscany,
in order that he may chastise the Florentines without further
delay.

Date.— Henry, Count of Luxemburg, was at the instance of
Clement V elected Emperor at Frankfort on Nov. 27, 1308, and
was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle on Jan. 6, 1309. On July 26, in
reply to an embassy from Henry, Clement published an ency-
clical ('Divinae Sapientiae ') approving the election, and
promising that the coronation should take place at St. Peter's
in two years' time. In May of the following year (1310) Henry
sent ambassadors to the chief cities of Italy, Florence among
them, to announce that he was coming into Italy to receivethe
Imperial crown. On Sept. 1 of that year Clement issued a
second encyclical ('Exultet in gloria') calling upon all good
Christians. and the Italians in particular, to receive and honour
Henry as Emperor. On Oct. 10 Henry was at Lausanne, where
he was welcomed by envoys from the Italian cities, with the
exception of Florence (which was represented by Florentine

EPISTOLA V 45

exiles), and a few days later he erossed the Alps by the Mt.
Cenis, reaching Susa on the 24th, and Turin on the SOth. 1 It
was about this tinie, probably in September or October 1310,
shortly before Henry crossed the Alps, that Dante's letter was
written — it was at any rate written after the issue of Clemenfs
encyclical of Sept. 1, since there is an unmistakable reference
to the latter inthe letter, 2 the language of which moreover in
more than one place echoes that of the Papal missive. 3

Summaey. — § 1. A new day is dawning after the long dark-
ness of tribulation,' the Sun of peace shall appear on high, the
reign of justice shall be renewed, and the oppressed peoples
shall be delivered from their yoke. § 2. Italy, hitherto an object
of pity, shall become the envy of the world, for the bridegroom
Henry is hastening to the wedding, and the workers of iniquity
shall be cut off. § 3. Such as crave his mercy shall be pardoned
but those that persist in their evil ways shall be utterly rooted
out. § 4. Let the peoples of Italy bethink them of their descent,
and let them come before the presence of the Emperor with
confession, and submit themselves with repentance. § 5. Let
them that are oppressed lift up their hearts, and prepare them-
selves to receive the grace of God, that they may bear the fruit
of true peace, and may be recognized as sheep of his fold by
the Roman shepherd, who, though he be authorized to chastise,
yet delights rather in compassion than in correction. § 6 . Th e
joys of peace are within reach of all ; let them, therefore, rise
up to meet their King, not only as subjects acknowledging his
sovereignty, but as free peoples accepting his guidance. § 7.
And let them stand in reverent awe beforehim, bearinginmind
that by virtue of his law they enjoy their public and private
rights, for the Roman Prince is lord of all the earth, fore-
ordained of God, as is recognized by Holy Church. § 8. The

1 See Zingarelli, Dante, pp. 249 ff.

2 Dante says (11. 165-6), <Hic est quem Petrus, Dei Vicarius,
honorificare nos monet ' ; Clement had called on the peoples of
Christendom ' regem praedictum honorificentia debita venerari '.

3 See Zingarelli, op. cit., p. 256.

46 LETTERS OF DANTE

pre-ordination of the Roman Emperor is proved by the course
of history, a survey of which from the repulse of the Argonauts
by Laomedon down to the triumphs of Octavian will show that
certain events ' have altogether transcended the highest pitch
of human effort ', and that at times God has used mari as the
unconscious instrument of his will. § 9. Further proof supplied
by the fact that Christ was born during a period of profound
peace under the Roman Emperor, whose temporal jurisdiction
He himself recognized when He said, ' Render unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar's \ § 10. And if this should not suffice,
let the words of Christ be recalled, how He declared to Pilate,
the vicar of Caesar, that his power was given to him from above.
Let then Henry, as the King appointed by God, be received
with due honour in obedience to the Apostolic exhortation, that
the light of the lesser as well as of the greater luminary may
shine forth for the guidance of mankind.

Universis et singulis Italiae Regibus l et Senatoribus
almae 2 Urbis, necnon Ducibus, Marchionibus, Comiti-

1 That is, Frederick II of Aragon (third son of Peter III of
Aragon), King of Sicily, 1296-1337; and Robert of Anjou (third son
of Charles II of Anjou), King of Naples, 1309-43.

2 Almus was commonly used by mediaeval writers as a synonym
of sanctus, and that is no doubt its meaning here, 'alma urbs',
i. e. Rome, being the exact equivalent of ' urbs sancta ', Mon. ii. 5,
1. 106; and 'santa citta', Conv. iv. 5, 11. 53, 179; c£ Inf. ii. 20:
' alma Roma', where Benvenuto da Imola comments : 'Roma dicitur
alma urbs, idest sancta'. The word is used by Dante in a similar
sense in Epist. vi. 39-40: 'legum sanctiones almae' (where the
textus receptus reads altissime). The expression ' alma urbs', meaning
Rome, occurs repeatedly in the letters of Rienzi (Epistolario di Cola
di Rienzo, ed. Gabrielli, pp. 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 29, 87) (see Mod. Lang.
Rev. xi. 342, 464 ; and BuU. Soc. Dant. Ital. ,H.S. xxiii. 162-8).

EPISTOLA V 47

bus* atque Populis, humilis Italus Dantes Alagherii h
Fhrentinus et exul immeritus l orat pacem. c

§ 1 . 4 Ecce nunc d tempus acceptabile \ e 2 quo signa
surgunt consolationis et pacis. Nam dies nova splende-
scit f ab ortu Auroram g demonstrans, h quae iam tene-

5 bras diuturnae calamitatis attenuat ; iamque aurae
orientales crebrescunt, 1 3 rutilat coelum in labiis suis, et 5
auspitia 4 gentium blanda serenitate confortat. Et nos
gaudium expectatum •> videbimus, qui k diu pernoctitavi-

10 mus l 5 in deserto ; quoniam Titan 6 exorietur pacificus,
et iustitia sine sole quasi heliotropium 7 hebetata m quum

P. = Cod. S. Pantaleo 8 V. - Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat 1729
0. = Oxford Bante

a Hiatus in V., Ducibus, Marchionibus, Comitibus ornitted b P. Ale-
gherij ; V. Alagerij; O. Aligherius ° Hiatus in V., -at pacem omitted
d Hiatus in V., Ecce nuuc omitted " P. accetabilc f V. spendescit
* V. reads al for ab, and omits ortu Auroram, leaving hiatus ; 0. albam
h P.V. demostrans l P. crebescunt j P. expetatum k P. quod
1 P. pernotauimifs ; V. pernotitauimus ; 0. pernoctavimus m O. quasi

ut h. h.

1 Cf. Epist. ii. 24 ; Epist. iii (iv) tit. ; Epist. vi tit. ; Epist. vii tit.

2 2 Cor. vi. 2.

3 Cf. Aen. iii. 530.

4 Cf. Epist. iv (iii). 16, and note.

5 Frequentative forms are common in mediaeval texts ; numbers
uf examples are to be found in the Catholicon ; cf. lectito in Epist. vii*.

6 Cf. Epist. vii. 19, where Dante speaks of the Emperor Henry as
1 Titan praeoptatus \

7 Dante no doubt had in mind, not the plant (otherwise known
as solsequium, l turnsole '), to which the expression hebetata, ; dulled ',
• dimmed ', could hardly be applied, but the gem helioiropium or
/teliotropia, whose properties when exposed to the sun in certain
conditions are described in the old lapidaries, and in the mediaeval
dictionaries of Papias, Uguccione da Pisa, and Giovanni da Genova.

48 LETTERS OF DANTE

primum iubar ille vibraverit a , revirescet. Satura- lo
buntur omnes qui esuriunt b et sitiunt 1 in lumine

15 radiorum eius, et confundentur qui diligunt iniquita-
tem 2 a facie cpruscantis. Arrexit c namque aures
misericordes d 3 leo fortis de tribu Iuda 4 ; atque ululatum
universalis captivitatis 5 commiserans, 6 6 Moysen alium U

20 suscitavit, qui de gravaminibus Aegyptiorum populum
suum eripiet, ad terram lacte ac melle manantem 7 per-
ducens.

§ 2. Laetare f iam nunc miseranda Italia etiam

a V. uibrauit b P. V. exuriunt c P. Arrecscit ; V. Arrescit

d P. misericordis e P.V.O. miserans f P. Lectare

In the absencc of the sun (' sine sole ') the stone would naturally
lose its peculiar properties, and would appropriately be described
as hebetata, a term applied by Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 5, 18) to
a species of emerald, which was said to be deprived of its brilliancy
by exposure to the sun (' in sole hebetari '). It will be remembered
that in the Commedia Dante refers to another reputed property of
the gem heliotrope, that of rendering its wearer invisible (Inf. xxiv.
93 : 'Senza sperar pertugio o elitropia').

1 Matt. v. 6.

2 Psalm x. 6 (A. V. xi. 5, where iniquitatem is rendered ' violence ? ).

3 Cf. Aen. x. 723, 726 ; and 2 Chron. vii. 15 : 'aures erectae'.

4 Rev. v. 5.

5 Cf. Jerem. 1. 46 : ' A voce captivitatis Babylonis commota est
terra '.

6 This emendation, which involves only a very slight alteration
of the reading of the MSS. (the abbreviation 5 = com being easily
overlooked), rectifies the cursus, giving the tardus l (captivi)tatis
commiserans '. It might be preferable to retain miserans and by
a slight change in the order of the words to read ' universalis
captivitatis miserans iilulatum ' (velox). On the form of clausula,
' (captivi)tatis miserans', see Parodi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S.
xix. 256-7.

7 Deut. vi. 3.

EPISTOLA V 49

25 Saracenis, 1 quae statim invidiosa 2 per orbem videberis, 20
quia sponsus tuus, mundi solatium et gloria plebis tuae, 3
clementissimus 4 Henricus a , Divus et Augustus 5 et
Caesar, ad nuptias properat. Exsicca b lacrymas, et

30 moeroris vestigia dele c , pulcerrima ; nam prope est qui
liberabit te de carcere impiorum, qui percutiens mali- 25
gnantes in ore gladii 6 perdet eos, d et vineam suam aliis

35 locabit agricolis, 7 qui fructum iustitiae 8 reddant in
tempore messis.

§ 3. Sed an non c miserebitur cuiquam ? Immo
ignoscet omnibus misericordiam implorantibus, quum sit 30
Caesar, et maiestas eius de fonte defluat pietatis. 10

a P. hericua b P. esicca ; V. exica c P. dola d 0. qui, p. m.,
in 0. g. perdet eos e V. non an

1 Ci'. Epist. viii. 143-4: 'Roma . . . nunc Hannibali nedum alii
miserauda \

2 ' An object of envy ' ; cf. A. T. § 1, 1. 13 : * viris invidiosis '
(and ShadwelPs note) ; Par. x. 138 : « invidiosi veri '.

3 Luke ii. 32.

1 Cf. Epist. vii. 41 ; this epithet is applied to the Roman Emperor
by Orosius in his Hisioria adversum Paganos, vi. 1, § 6.

5 ' Augustus ' was part of the official title of the Emperor, as was
' Augusta ' of that of the Empress ; cf. Epist. vii tit. ; and the titles
of the three Battifolle letters (Epist. vii*, ii**, vii***).

6 A Biblical phrase ('percutere in ore gladii') which occurs
frequently in 0. T. ; cf. Numb. xxi. 24 ; Deut. xiii. 15 ; xx. 13 ;
Josh. vi. 21 ; x. 28, 30, 32, 37, 39; xix. 47 ; Judges i. 8 ; 1 Sam. xxii.
19 ; 2 Sam. xv. 14 ; 2 Kings x. 25 ; Jerem. xxi. 7 ; the punctuation
of the Oxford text associates ' in ore gladii ' with 'perdere' —
a phrase which nowhere occurs in the Vulgate.

7 Matt. xxi. 41.

8 Amos vi. 13 (in A.V. 'fruit of righteousness ').
'•' Matt. xiii. 30.

10 Cf. Mon. ii. 5, 11. 40-2 : \ scriptum est, Romanum Imperium de
fonte nascitur pietatis'; the saying occurs in the legend of
St. Silvester in the Legenda Aurea of Jacopus de Voragine : ' Dignitas

2165 E

50 LETTERS OF DANTE

40 Huius iudicium omnem severitatem abhorret, et semper

Komani Imperii de fonte nascitur pietatis '. Petrarch, addressing
the Virgin in his Canz. xlix (' Vergine bella'), says (1. 43), 'Tu
partoristi il fonte di pietate \ (See my Dante Studies and Researches,
pp. 297-8.) The ultimate source of this saying has been traced to
the Actus Beati Silvestri by Mr. F. E. Brightman, who has kindly
contributed the following note : • These Actus (which were printed
at Milan about 1480 in the Sanctuarium of Mombritius and were
reprinted by the Benedictines of Solesmes at Paris in 1910) are
mentioned in the pseudo-Gelasian index of libri recipiendi, and were
one of the sources of the Donation of Constantine. They were read
for the matins Lessons of the feast of St. Silvester (Dec. 31), and
were therefore included in the Passionale or Legenda Sanctorum.
But as they are of considerable length, when the Breviarium was
compiled, so as to include the whole Divine Service for the year in
a single volume, they, like the other legends, had to be curtailed.
But, at the same time, the complete Passionale continued to be
copied, and presumably to be used in some churches. Thus, of
four copies in the Bodleian, one is of Cent. xiii, two of Cent. xiv,
and one of Cent. xv. It is quite possible, therefore, that Dante
may have known the legend of St. Silvester either from a Passionale,
or from a Breviary which retained the passage in question — quite
apart from the Legenda Aurea.' The following is the passage as
given in the Cent. xiii Bodleian MS. (Canon. Misc. 230) of the
Passionale, which was written in 1204 by one Matthew the Floren-
tine : • Constantinus Augustus monarchiam tenens, cum plurimas
strages de christianis dedisset, et innumerabilem populum per
omnes provincias fecisset variis poenarum generibus interfici,
elefantiae a Deo lepra in toto corpore percussus est. Huic cum
diversa magorum et medicorum agmina subvenire non potuissent,
pontifices Capitolii hoc dederunt consilium : debere piscinam fieri
in ipso Capitolio quae puerorum sanguine repleretur. In quam
calido ac fumante sanguine nudus descendens Augustus, mox
posset vulnere illius leprae mundari. Iussum est igitur et de
rebus fisci vel patrimonii regis ad tria millia et eo amplius infantes
adduci ad urbem Romam. Pontificibus traditi sunt Capitolii.
Die autem constituto egrediente imperatore Constantino palatium
ad hoc eunte ad Capitolium ut sanguis innoxius funderetur,
occurrit multitudo mulierum quae omnes resolutis crinibus, nuda-
tisque pectoribus, dantes ululatus et mugitus coram eo se in

EPISTOLA V 51

citra medium plectens, ultra medium praemiando* sefigit.

Anne propterea nequamhominumapplaudet audacias b ,et

45 initis c * praesumptionum pocula d propinabit 2 ? Absit, 35

quoniam Augustus est. Et si Augustus, nonne relapso-

a P. preliando b O. audaciis c 0. initiis d P. procula, with
alias pocula written above

plateis straverunt, fundentes lacrimas. Percontatus itaque Con-
stantinus Augustus qua de causa multitudo haec mulierum ista
faceret, didicit has matres esse filiorum eorum quorum effundendus
erat sanguis, tamdiu quousque piscina repleretur, in quam medendi
causa lavandus descenderet et sanandus. Tunc imperator exhorruit
facinus, et se tantorum criminum reum fore apud Dominum
existimans quantum esset numerus puerorum, vicit crudelitatem
pontificum pietas Eomani imperii, et prorumpens in lacrimas
iussit stare carrucam, et erigens se convocans universos clara voce
dixit : Audite me, comites et commilitones, et omnes populi qui
adstatis, Komani imperii dignitas de fonte nascitur pietatis. Cur
ergo proponam saluti meae salutem populi innocentis. Nunc
autem ab effusione innoxii sanguinis sententiam crudelitatis ex-
cludam. Melius est enim pro salute innocentum mori quam per
interitum eorum vitam recuperare crudelem, quam tamen recu-
perare incertum est, cum certum sit in recuperata esse crudelitas. . . .
Vincat nos pietas in isto congressu. Vere enim omnium adversan-
tium poterimus esse victores si a sola pietate vincamur ; omnium
enim rerum se esse dominum comprobat qui verum se servum
ostenderit esse pietatis. Cum ad istam conctionem omnis exercitus
omnisque populus diutissime acclamasset, item contionatus dixit :
Iussit pietas Romana filios suis matribus reddi, ut dulcedo reddita
filiorum amaritudinem lacrimarum obdulcet. Et haec dicens iter
quod arripuerat eundi ad Capitolium deferens ad palatium rediit '
(fol. 32 vo ). (See Mod. Lang. Rev. xiv. 326-7.)

1 Prom neut. plur. inita used as a substantive ; initis is the reading
of both MSS., and it is indirectly confirmed by the early Italian
translation, in which the wholly irrelevant words ' dolce e piano'
occur, which no doubt is the translator's rendering of mitis, either
his own or a eopyistfs misreading of the initis of the Latin original.

2 This word, which is registered by Giovanni da Genova in the
Catholicon, occurs several times in the Vulgate, viz. Isaiah xxvii. 3 ;
Jerem. xxv. 15, 17 ; Amos ii. 12.

e2

52 LETTERS OF DANTE

rum facinora vindicabit ? et usque in Thessaliam perse-
quetur % Thessaliam b , inquam c , finalis deletionis d ? '

50 § 4. Pone, sanguis e Longobardorum, coadductam bar-
bariem 2 ; et si quid deTroianorum Latinorumque semine 40
superest, 3 illi cede, ne f quum sublimis aquila, f ulguris instar

55 descendens, 4 affuerit, abiectos videat pullos eius, et prolis
propriae locum corvulis occupatum. Eia, facite, Scan-
dinaviae soboles, 5 ut cuius merito trepidatis adventum,
quod g ex vobis est, praesentiam sitiatis h . Nec seducat 45

60 alludens * 6 cupiditas, more Sirenum, 7 nescio qua dulce-
dine 8 vigiliam rationis 9 mortificans. Praeoccupetis J

a P. omits persequetur b P. omits; V. tesalia c P. in <jua

(1 P. dillectionis ; V. delectionis e V. sangu , leaving hiatus f V. omits
s 0. quantum h V. scitiatis ' 0. illudens j V. preocupatis

1 The allusion is to the disastrous defeat of Pompey by Julius
Caesar at the battle of Pharsalia in Thessaly, 48 b.c.

2 Dante reproaches the Lombards with their barbarian origin,
in allusion to their supposed descent through the Longobards from
a Scandinavian tribe (see lelow).

3 Cf. Inf. xv. 75-8; xxvi. 60 where the Trojans are referred to
as 'il gentil seme de' Eomani') ; Conv. iv. 4, 11. 103-5; Mon. ii. 11,
11. 22-4.

* Cf. Purg. ix. 20-9 : ( un' aquila . . . mi parea che . . . Terribil
come folgor discendesse ' ; cf. also Aen. viii. 524; Epist. iv (iii).
14-15.

5 The tradition as to the Scandinavian origin of the Lombards
is recorded by Paulus Diaconus in his Historia Langobardorum :
' Winnilorum, hoc est Langobardorum, gens, quae postea in Italia
feliciter regnavit, a Germanorum populis originem ducens, . . . ab
insula quae Scandinavia dicitur adventavit ' (i. 1).

6 This is the reading of both MSS. ; Giovanni da Genova in the
Catholicon says, ' est alludere illudere '.

7 Cf. Purg. xix. 19 ; xxxi. 45.

8 Georg. i. 412.

8 Cf. Inf. xxvi. 114-15 : 'questa vigilia de' nostri sensi'.

EPISTOLA V 53

faciem eius in confessione subiectionis, et in psalterio a x
poenitentiae iubiletis 2 ; considerantes quia b ' potestati

65 resistens Dei ordinationi resistit ' 3 ; et qui divinae ordina- 50
tioni repugnat,voluntati omnipotentiae coaequali recalci-
trat c ; et ' durum est contra stimulum calcitrare ' d 4 .

70 § 5. Vos autem qui lugetis oppressi e , ' animum
sublevate, quoniam prope est vestra salus \ 6 Assumite f G
rastrum bonae humilitatis, atque glebis exustae animosi- 55
tatis occatis, 7 agellum sternite mentis vestrae, ne forte

75 coelestis imber, sementem vestram ante iactum prae-
veniens, in vacuum de altissimo cadat 8 ; non g resiliat h
gratia Dei ex vobis tamquam ' ros quotidianus ex lapide;
sed velut foecunda vallis concipite j , ac viride germinetis, 60

80 viride dico fructiferum verae pacis ; qua quidem viriditate
vestra terra vernante, novus agricola Romanorum con-
silii sui boves ad aratrum affectuosius et confidentius

85 coniugabit. Parcite, parcite, iam ex nunc, o carissimi k ,
qui mecum iniuriam passi estis, ut Hectoreus 9 pastor 65
vos oves de ovili suo cognoscat ; cui etsi animadversio l
temporalis divinitus est indulta, tamen ut eius boni-

90 tatem m redoleat, a quo velut a puncto bifurcatur Petri

a V.O. ctpsalterio b 0. quod c P. rechurerat d P. calcistrare
e P. oppresi f P. assummere ; V. asummite g 0. neve h V. resiliet
1 V. omits j 0. concipiatis k P. (apparently) olrimi ! P. ani-
mauertio m P. bonitate

1 This reading is supported by the in psalmis of Psalm xeiv. 2, of
whieh Dante's words are a reminiscence.

2 Psalm xciv. 2. 3 Rom. xiii. 2 ; cf. Epist. vii. 165-6.
4 Acts ix. 5. 5 Luke xxi. 28 ; Rom. xiii. 11.

6 Cf. Ephes. vi. 17. 7 Cf. Georg. i. 94, 107.

8 Cf. 2 Cor. vi. 1.

9 That is, Trojan, and hence, in Dante's view, Roman (see above
p. 52, n. 8).

54 LETTERS OF DANTE

Caesarisque potestas, voluptuose familiam suam corrigit,
sed ei voluptuosius miseretur a . 70

95 § 6. Itaque, si culpa vetus l uon obest, quae plerum-
que supinatur ut coluber et vertitur b in se ipsam, hinc c
utrique 2 potestis advertere, pacemunicuique praeparari d ,
et insperatae e laetitiae iam primitias f degustare. Evigi-

loo late g igitur omnes, et assurgite regi vestro, incolae 75
Latiales h 3 , non solum sibi ad imperium, sed, ut liberi, 4
ad regimen * reservati.

§ 7. Nec tantum j ut assurgatis exhortor, sed ut illius

105 obstupescatis aspectum, 6 qui k bibitis fluenta eius, G
eiusque maria navigatis ; qui calcatis arenas littorum et 80
Alpium summitates quae suae sunt 1 7 ; qui publicis qui-
buscumque gaudetis, et res privatas vinculo suae legis,

110 non aliter, possidetis m . Nolite, n velut ignari, decipere
vosmetipsos, 8 tamquam somniantes °, in cordibus et di-

a V . uoluptuose famili miseretur; O. v.f. s. c, libentius vero eius

miseretur b V. plerumque suppi et uertitur ; O. p. serpentis modo

torquetur et v. c F.V.huic d V. omits praeparan, leaving hiatus ;
0. esse paratam e P, insperare ; V. et erate ; O. speratae f P.

priuitias g P. Euigilare h V. omits incolae Latiales, leaving hiatus ;
O. i. Italiae * P. rengnum j P. tamen k O. aspectum. Qui

1 P. sue que suni ; V.O. qu{a)e sunt su(a)e m P. presidetis, with alias
possidetis written above n 0. possidetis ; noliie ° P. sopniantes

1 Disobedience, which was the cause of the fall of man ; cf. Par.
xiii. 37-9; xxvi. 115-17; xxxii. 122-3.

2 That is, both tlie rebellious and the oppressed of §§ 3-5.

3 For the use of Latialis in the sense of 'Italian', cf. 'Latiale
caput' (of Rome) in Epist. viii. 150.

4 Cf. Mon. i. 12, 11. 45-8: ' humanum genus . . . existens sub
Monarcha (i. e. the Roman Emperor) est potissime liberum ' ; and
Epist. vi. 157-64. B Aen. i. 613. 6 Prov. v. 15.

7 See Parodi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix. 255 ; and cf. 1. 153 :
1 quae sua sunt '. 8 Jerem. xxxvii. 8.

EPISTOLA V 55

centes a \ ' Dominnm non habemus \~ Hortus enim eius 85
et lacus est quod coelum circuit ; nam b * Dei est mare

115 et ipse fecit illud, et aridam fundaverunt manus eius\ c3
Unde d Deum Romanum e principem praedestinasse re-
lucet in miris effectibus 4 ; et verbo Verbi confirmasse
posterius f 5 profitetur Ecclesia. 90

120 § 8. Nempe si * a creatura mundi invisibilia Dei, per
ea quae facta sunt, intellecta g conspiciuntur ' 6 ; et si
ex notioribus h nobis innotiora 7 ; simpliciter* interest^

125 humanae apprehensioni, ut k per motum coeli motorem
intelligamus l et eius velle : facile praedestinatio haec 95
etiam leviter intuentibus m innotescet". Nam si a
prima scintillula huius ignis 08 revolvamus praeterita,
ex quo scilicet Argis hospitalitas est p a Phrygibus

a O. somniantes in corclibns, et dicentes b P. num ° V. est

,l P. num e P. omits Romanum f P. omits posterius ; V. propreerius
g P. rellitta ; 0. intellectu h P. nutioribus, with alias notioribus written
above ' 0. similiter j P. iter est k V. ne ! P. inteUigimus
m P. omits intuentibns n P.V. innotescat ° V . a prima huius ignis ;
O.ap.h.i. favilla p 0. omits es

1 The punctuation of the Oxfortl text is obviously wrong ; cf.
Psalm iv. 5 ; x. 6, 11, 13 ; xiii. 1 ; xxxiv. 25 ; &c.

2 1 Kings xxii. 17 ; Psalm xiii. 1 ; lii. 1.

3 Psalm xciv. 5 ; with a recollection of Oen. i. 9.

4 See the references in the Dante Dictionary, s.v. Romani 1 , and
especially Mon. ii. 4.

s This conjectural emendation of the meaningless reading of V.
is based on the poscia of the early Italian translation (ed. 1754).
« Rom. i. 20 ; cf. Mon. ii. 2, li. 72-3.

7 Aristotle, Physics, i. 1; cf. Conv. ii. 1, 11.107-12; A. T. § 20, 11. 19-23.

8 The 'blaze', that is, of the glory of the Eoman Empire.

9 'Argi' was used in late and mediaeval Latin for 'Argivi';
thus in the commentary of the pseudo-Fulgentius on the Thebaid
we find : 'Argeos grece, providentia latine, unde Greci dicuntur
Argi, id est providi ' ; and in the Elementarium Doctrinae Rudimentum

m LETTERS OF DANTE

130 denegata a ] ; et usque ad Octaviani triumphos mundi
gesta revisere vacet 2 ; nonnulla b eorum videbimus loo
humanae virtutis omnino culmina transcendisse, 3 et

135 Deum per homines, tamquam per c coelos novos, 4 aliquid
operatum fuisse. Non etenim d semper nos agimus ;
quin interdum utensilia Dei sumus ; ac voluntates
humanae, quibus inest ex natura libertas e5 , etiam in- 105

140 ferioris affectus immunesquandoque agimtur, et obnoxiae
voluntati aeternae, saepe illi ancillantur ignare. 6

a V. deregata b V. nulla ° P. omitsper d V. non eternj

e P. liberata

of Papias (c. 1060) : 'Argi graece et argiui dicti ab argo rege filio
apis. Iidem danai a danao rege. Iidem quoque argolici ab argo ' ;
and in the Magnae Derivationes of Uguccione da Pisa (c. 1200) :
'Argos nomen civitatis in Grecia, neutri generis et indeclinabile
in singulari, sed in plurali masculini generis, et declinatur Argi
-orum, unde dicti sunt Argi, vel ab Argo rege dicuntur.' An actual
instance of the use of Argi for Argivi occurs in the Antiqua Translatio
of the Ethics, a work familiar to Dante, as was the Derivationes of
Uguccione. Aristotle, speaking of the ' valour of ignorance ' at the
end of chap. 8 of Book iii, says that those who go into a fight under
a false apprehension take to fiight as soon as they discover that
they have been deceived, *as was the case with the Argives when
they fell upon the Lacedaemonians, mistaking them for Sicyonians',
which is rendered in the Antiqua Travslatio : ' quod Argi patiebantur
incidentes Laconibus ut Sicioniis' (Lib. iii, Lect. 17 adfin.).

1 The reference is to the repulse of the Argonauts by Laomedon
from the port of Simois, which led to the sacking of Troy by
Hercules, and the rape of Laomedon's daughter, Hesione, followed
by the rape of Helen in reprisal, and the consequent Trojan war,
as is recorded by Dares Phrygius in his De Excidio Trojae (i. 2), and
repeated by Guido delle Colonne in his Historia Trojana (i. 2), by
Benoit de Sainte-Maure in the Roman de Troie (11. 989 ff.), by
Brunetto Latini in his Tresor (i. 32), and by Villani in his Cronica
(i. 12). (See Mod. Lang. Bev. xi. 69-73.)

2 Aen.i. 372-3. 8 Seeabove,p.55,n.<t. 4 Tsaiahlxv. 17; 2P^.iii.l3.
:> Cf. Mon. i. 12, 11. 38-41 ; Par. v. 18-22. 6 Cf. Epist. vi. 100-1.

EPISTOLA V 57

§ 9. Et si haec, quae uti a principia sunt ad pro-
bandum b quod quaeritur, non sufficiunt, quis non ab

145 illata conclusione per talia praecedentia c mecum d iio
opinari cogetur, pace ° videlicet f annorum duodecim g
orbem totaliter amplexata h *, quae sui syllogizantis *
faciem Dei filium, sicuti opere patrato, ostendit j ? Et

150 Hic, quum ad revelationem Spiritus, Homo factus,
evangelizaret in terris, quasi dirimens k duo regna, Sibi 115
et Caesari universa distribuens, alterutri duxit 1 reddi
quae sua suni.^

155 § 10. Quod si pertinax animus^poscit ulterius, nondum
annuens veritati, verba Christi examinet etiamjiam ligati ;
cui quum potestatem suam Pilatus obiceret, Lux nostra 190
de sursum esse asseruit, quod ille iactabat qui Caesaris

160 ibi auctoritate vicaria m gerebat officium. 3 'Non igitur
ambuletis, sicut et gentes ambulant in vanitate sensus

a V. ubi b P. adprobandum c 0. procedendo d V. cum (after
hiatus) ; 0. nobiscum e O. pacem f 0. videns K P. omits

duodecim h 0. amplexatam l V. silogiza , leaving hiatus ; O. syllo-
gizatoris j V. ostenditur k P. diruens l P. iussit; 0. dixit

m P. uicarie

1 Dante's authority here was Orosius : ' Itaque anno ab urbe
condita dcclii Caesar Augustus ab oriente in occidentem, a septen-
trione in meridiem, ac per totum Oceani circulum cunctis gentibus
una pace conpositis, Iani portas tertio ipse tunc clausit; quas ex
eo per duodecim fere annos quietissimo semper obseratas otio ipsa
etiam robigo signavit. . . . Igitur eo tempore, id est eo anno quo
firmissimam verissimamque pacem ordinatione Dei Caesar conpo-
suit, natus est Christus, cuius adventui pax ista famulata est, in
cuius ortu audientibus hominibus exultantes angeli cecinerunt,
Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis '
(Hist. adv. Paganos, vi. 22, §§ 1-2, 5) ; cf. Par. vi. 80-1 ; Conv. iv. 5,
11. 60-7 ; Mon. i. 16, 11. 10-19.

2 Mcitt xxii. 21. s John xix< 10-11.

58 LETTERS OF DANTE

tenebris obscurati ' l ; sed aperite oculos mentis vestrae, 2
ac videte quoniam a:j regem nobis coeli et b terrae 125
165 Dominus ordinavit. Hic est quem Petrus, Dei vicarius,
honorificare nos monet 4 ; quem Clemens nunc Petri
successor luce Apostolicae benedictionis illuminat 5 ; ut
ubi radius spiritualis non sufficit, ibi splendor minoris
luminaris illustret. 6 130

Tkanslatton

To all and singular the Princes ofltaly, and the Senators of
the Sacred City, as dlso the Dukes, Marquises, Counts, and
Peoples, a humble Ifalian, Dante Alighieri, a Florentine
undeservcdly in exile, prayeth peace.

§ 1. Behold now is the accepted time, wherein arise
the signs of consolation and peace. For a new day is
beginning to break, revealing the dawn in the East, which
even now is dispersing the darkness of our long tribulation.
Already the orient breeze is freshening, the face of the
heavens grows rosy, and confirms the hopes of the peoples
with an auspicious calm. And we too, who have kept
vigil through the long night in the wilderness, shall behold
the long-awaited joy. ^For the Sun of peace shall appear
on high, and justice which, like the heliotrope, deprived of
his light, had grown faint, so soon as he shall dart forth

a O. videfe ; quoniam b 0. ac

1 Ephes. iv. 17-18. 2 See above, p. 15, n. 4.

3 The punctuation of the Oxford text violates the cursus — ' oculos
mentis vestrae ' (velox) — besides obscuring the sense.

4 Cf. 1 Pet ii. 17.

6 This is an unmistakable reference to Clementfs encyclical of
Sept. 1, 1310 ('Exultat in gloria'), see above, p. 45, n. 2.

6 Dante here (as also in Epist. vi. 54-5) accepts the symbolism
against which he argues in the Le Monarchia (iii. 4), and which he
rejects in the Commedia (cf. Purg. xvi. 107-8), namely, that the
greater light represents the Pope, and the lesser the Emperor.

EPISTOLA V 59

his rays, once more shall revive. All they that hunger
and thirst shall be satisfied in the light of his radiance,
and they that delight in iniquity shall be put to confusion
before the face of his splendour.X For the strong lion of
the tribe of Judah hath lifted up his ears in compassion,
and moved by the lamentations of the multitudes in
captivity hath raised up another Moses, who shall deliver
his people from the oppression of the Egyptians, and shall
lead them to a land nowing with milk and honey.

§ 2^ Rejoice, therefore, O Italy, thou that art now an
object of pity even to the Saracens, for soon shalt thou be
the envy of the whole world, seeing that thy bridegroom ,
the comfort of the nations, and the glory of thy people,
even the most clement Henry, Elect of God and
Augustus and Caesar, is hastening to the weddingr^ Dry
thy tears, and wipe away the stains of thy weeping, most
beauteous one ; for he is at hand who shall bring thee
forth from the prison of the ungodly, and shall smite the
workers of iniquity with the edge of the sword, 1 and shall
destroy them. And his vineyard shall he let out to other
husbandmen, who shall render the fruit of justice in the
time of harvest.

§ 3. But will he then have mercy on none ? Nav,__for
he will pardon all those who implore his mercy, since ho
is Caesar, and his sovereignty derives from the fountain of
pity. His judgements abhor all severity, for he punishes
ever on this side the mean, while in rewarding he aims
ever beyond the mean. Will he then countenance the
daring of the evil-doers, and drink success to the under-
takings of the presumptuous ? Far be it, for he is
Augustus. And being Augustus shall he not take ven-
geance for the evil deeds of the backsliders, and pursue
them even unto Thessaly, the Thessaly, I say, of utter
annihilation ?

§ 4. Put off from you, ye Lombard race, the barbarism
ye have acquired, and if aught of Trojan and Latin seed
yet survive in you, give heed thereto, lest when the eagle
from on high, swooping down like a thunderbolt, shall

1 See p. 49, n. 6.

60 LETTERS OF DANTE

descend upon you, he find his own young cast out, and
the place of his offspring usurped by a brood of ravens.
Up then, ye sons of Scandinavia, and so far as ye may
show yourselves eager for the presence of him whose
advent ye now justly await with dread. And be not
deceived by the wiles of avarice, which witH a charm as
of the Sirens of old is able to destroy the vigilance of your
reason. Come before his presence with confession, sub-
mitting yourselves unto him, and sing a psalm of repen-
tance unto him with joy, remembering that ' whosoever
resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God ' ; and
that whoso fighteth against the divine ordinance, kicketh
against a will which is as the will of the Almighty ; and
4 it is hard to kick against the pricks \

§ 5. But ye that groan under oppression, lift up your
hearts, for your salvation is nigh at hand. Take the
mattock of true humility, and break up the parched clods
of your pride, making smooth the field of your minds,
lest perchance the rain from heaven, coming before the
seed has been sown, fall in vain from on high. Let not
the grace of God be turned from you, as is the daily dew
from the rock, but may ye conceive like a fertile valley, and
put forth green, the green, that is, which shall be fruitful of
true peace. And when your land shall be green with this
verdure, the new husbandman of the Romans with greater
love and more confidence shall yoke the oxen of his
counsel to the plough. Forbear, forbear, from henceforth,
well-beloved, who with me have suffered wrong, that the
shepherd descended from Hector may recognize you as
sheep of his fold. For though the temporal chastisement
be committed to his hands from above, yet that he may
be redolent of the goodness of Him, from whom, as from
a point, the power of Peter and of Caesar doth bifurcate,
he delighteth him in the correction of his household, but
deliehteth him yet more in showing them compassion.

§ o> Wherefore if ye be not hindered by that inveterate
sin, which oft-times, like a serpent, is thrown on its back,
and is turned against itself, ye may hence both the one
and the other of you perceive that peace is prepared for

EPISTOLA V 61

each one, and may even now taste the first-fruits of the
unlooked-for joy. Awake, therefore, all of you, and rise
up to meet your King, ye inhabitants of Italy, as being
reserved not only as subjects unto his sovereignty, but
also as free peoples unto his guidance. X

§ 7. And I urge you not only to rise up to meet him,
but to stand in reverent awe * before his presence, ye who
drink of his streams, and sail upon his seas ; ye who tread
the sands of the shores and the summits of the mountains
that are his ; ye who enjoy all public rights and possess
all private property by the bond of his law, and no other-
wise. Be ye not like the ignorant, deceiving your own
selves, after the manner of them that dream, and say in
their hearts, ' We have no Lord '. For all within the
compass of the heavens is his garden and his lake ; for
' the sea is God's, and He made it, and His hands prepared
the dry land\ Wherefore it is made manifest by the
wonders that have been wrought that God ordained the
Eoman Prince beforehand, and the Church confesses that
He afterward confirmed him by the word of the Word.

§ 8. Verily if ' from the creation of the world the in-
visible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by
the things that are made', and if through the things
that are known those that are unknown are revealed to
us, it is without doubt within the capacity of human
understanding to comprehend the Mover of the heavens,
and His will, from the motion thereof. This pre-ordination
then will be readily apprehended even by such as are but
casual observers. For if we survey the past, from the first
tiny spark of this fire, namely from the day when hospi-
tality was denied to the Argives by the Phrygians, and,
if time allow, review the events of the world's history
down to the triumphs of Octavian, we shall see that
certain of them have altogether transcended the highest
pitch of human effort, and that God at times has wrought
through man as though through new heavens. For it is
not always we who act, but sometimes we are the instru-

1 ' Obstupescatis ' ; see Dante's definition of 'stupore' in the
Convivio (iv. 25, 11. 48 ff.).

62 LEITERS OF DANTE

rnents of God ; and the human will, in which liberty is
by nature inherent, at times receives direction untram-
melled by earthly affections, and subject to the Eternal
Will oft - times unconsciously becomes the minister
thereof.

§ 9 And if these things, which are as it were the pre-
liminaries for the proof of what we seek, do not suffice,
who is there who will not be compelled to agree with me
in the conclusion drawn from such premisses, namely the
fact that the whole world was wrapped in peace for twelve
years, whereby is revealed, as with accomplished fact, the
face of its Syllogizer, namely the Son of God ? And He,
when, after He had been made man for the revelation of
the Spirit, He was preaching the gospel upon earth, as if
He were dividing two kingdoms, apportioned the world t<>
Himself and to Caesar, and bade that to each should be
rendered the things that are his.

§ 10. But if an obstinate mind does not yet assent to
the truth, and demands further proof, let it consider the
words of Christ when He was bound ; for when Pilate
asserted his power against Him, our Light declared that
power to be from above, of which he boasted who was
exercising the office of Caesar by vicarious authority.
■ Walk ye not therefore as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity
of their senses, shrouded in darkness ' ; but open ye the
eyes of your mind and behold how the Lord of heaven
and of earth hath appointed us a king. This is he whom
Peter, the Vicar of God, exhorts us to honour, and wbom
\*r Clement, the present successor of Peter, illumines with the
light of the Apostolic benediction ; that where the spiritual
ray suffices not, there the splendour of the lesser luminary
may lend its light.

m

EPISTOLA VI

(' Aeterni pia providentia Regis')

To THE FLORENTINES
[March31, 1311]

MSS.— This letter, like Epist. i (to Niccolo da Prato), Epist. ii
(to the Counts of Romena), Epist iv (iii) (to Moroello Malaspina),
and the three Battifolle letters (Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***), has
been preserved only in the Cent. xiv Vatican MS. (Cod. Vat,-
Palat. Lat. 1729), in which it occurs second in order of the nine
letters contained in the MS., being placed between Epist. vii
(to the Emperor Henry VII) and the first Battifolle letter
(Epist vii*). 1

Printed Texts. 2 — 1. Torri (1842): Epist. vi (op. cit., pp.
36-42). 2. Fraticelli (1857) : Epist. vi (op. cit, pp. 474-82).
3. Giuliani (1882) r Epist. vi (op. cit., pp. 17-21). 4. A. Bartoli
(1884) : in Storia della Letteratura Italiana (Firenze, 1884 ; vol. v,
pp. 225-8). 5. Scartazzini (1890) : in Prolegomeni della Divina
Commedia (Leipzig, 1890; pp. 106-9). 6. Moore(1894) : Epist.
vi (op. cit., pp. 407-9). 7. Passerini (1910) : Epist. vi (op. cit.,
pp. 44-60). 8. Paget Toynbee (1912) : (diplomatic transcript
of the MS. text, together with collations of the various readings
of the several printed editions of the letter, and a list of proposed
emendations in the Oxford text) in Modern Language Review
(vol. vii, pp. 14-19). 9. PagetToynbee (1917) : (emended text,
with list of passages in which this text differs from that of the
Oxford Dante) in Modern Language Review (vol. xii, pp. 182-6).
10. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. x (op. cit, pp. 255-63).

Translations. 2 — Italian. 1. Torri (1842) : op. cit, pp. 37-
43. 2. Fraticelli (1857): op. cit, pp. 475-83. 3. Passerin

1 See above, p. 1.

2 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

64 LETTERS OF DANTE

(1910) : op. cit., pp. 45-61. 4. Scherillo (1918) : (extracts) op. cit.,
vol. i, pp. 167-9. — German. 1 1. Kannegiesser (1845) : op\ cit.,
pp. 181-6. 2. Scartazzini (1879) : (extracts) vaDanteAlighieri,
seine Zeit, sein Leben und seine Werhe (pp. 392-3). 3. F. X.
Wegele (1879) : (extracts) in Dante Alighieris Lehen und WerTce
{ Jena, 1897 ; pp. 2^-l).—English. 1. Latham (1891) : op. cit.,
pp. 141-9. 2. Wicksteed (1898) : in A Provisional Translation
of Dantes Political Letters (pp. 10-15). 3. Wicksteed (1904):
(revised trans.) in Translation of the Latin Works of Dante
Alighieri (pp. 316-22. 4. Paget Toynbee (1917): in Moderu
Language Revieiv, vol. xii, pp. 187-91 (see below, pp. 77-81).

Authenticity.-- The authenticity ofthis letter, which, like
those to the Princes and Peoples of Italy (Epist. v) and to the
Emperor Henry VII (Epist. vii), was written by Dante in his
own name, 2 is beyond question. It was known to Bruni, who
refers to it in his Vita di Dante : l Essendo [Dante] in questa
speranza di ritornare per via di perdono, sopravvennel' elezione
cPArrigo di Luzinborgo imperadore ; per la cui elezione prima,
e poi la passata sua, essendo tutta Italia sollevata in speranza
di grandissime novita, Dante non pote tenere il proposito suo
dell' aspettare grazia ; ma, levatosi coll' animo altiero, comincio
a dir male di quelli che reggevano la terra, appellandoli
scellerati e cattivi, e minacciando loro la debita vendetta per la
potenza dell' imperadore, contro la quale diceva esser manifesto
ch'e8si non avrebbon potuto avere scampo alcuno.' 3 This letter
is supposed (see Zenatti, Dante e Firenze, pp. 418-19) to have
been known independently to Giannozzo Manetti, who in his
Vita Dantis says that when the Emperor advanced to besiege
Florence the hopes of the Florentine exiles who flocked to his
camp ran high — • Proinde Dantes quoque se ulterius continere

1 An abstracfc of the letter, with extracts from it in German,
was published by Witte in 1838 in his article Neu avfgefundene
Briefe des Dante Allighieri (see above, p. 2, n. 2), which was re-
printed in his Dante-Forschungen (see vol. i, pp. 482-6).

2 See above, p. 44.

s Ed. Biancbi, p. xxi.

EPISTOLA VI 65

non potuit, quin spe plenus epistolam quamdam ad Florentinos,
ut ipse vocat intrinsecos contumeliosam sane scriberet, in qua
eos acerbissime insectatur; quumante hac de ipsis honorificen-
tissime loqui solitus esset ' — a statement which contains an un-
mistakable reference to the title of the letter (' scelestissimis
Florentinis intrinsecis '). But Manetti is here simply echoing
a passage in Bruni's Historia Florentina : l Extat Dantis poetae
epistola amarissimis referta contumeliis, quam ipse inani fiducia
exultans, contra Florentinos, ut ipse vocat, intrinsecos scripsit ;
et quos ante id tempus honorificentissimis compellare solebat
verbis, tunc huius (i.e. of the Emperor) spe supra modum
elatus, acerbissime insectari non dubitat' (ed. 1610, p. 88). It
may be noted, further, that Manetti states that the letter, which
is dated March 31, 1311, was written at the time of the siege of
Florence, which did not begin till the autumn of 1312. (See
Modern Langnage Review, xiv. 111-12).

Date. — This is one of three among the letters attributed to
Dante which is specifically dated, the other two being the letter
to the Emperor (Epist. vii), and the last Battifolle letter (Epist.
vii***). In all three, while the day of the month (in this case
March 31) is indicated in the usual manner by means of the
Roman Calendar^the year is given as the first year of a new era,
namely that of the advent of the Emperor into Italy — 'faustis-
simi cursus Henrici Caesaris * ad Italiam anno primo ' (i. e.
1311).

Summary. — § 1. The Holy Roman Empire divinely instituted
for the proper governance of mankind, and for the maintenance
of peace ; as is testified both by the Scriptures and by pagan
writers ; and as is manifest from the fact that when the throne
of Augustus is vacant the whole world goes out of course, Italy
meanwhile being like a ship abandoned to the windsand waves.
Wherefore let all who seek to oppose the will of God look for
the divine vengeance, which is nigh at hand. § 2. The
Florentines warned of the madness of their resistance to the
Emperor, the minister of God, and of their design to set up an

1 In Epist. vii, * divi Henrici \

2165 F

66 LETTERS OF DANTE

independent sovereignty — if there be room for two teraporal
powers, why not for two spiritual powers also ? Their
head-strong wickedness certain to bring upon them condign
punishment. § 3. Do they imagine that their paltry fortifica-
tions will avail to protect them from the wrath of the Emperor,
which will be but the more inflamed against them by reason of
their futile resistance ? § 4. Their city doomed to destruction,
and the inhabitants to death or captivity or exile — they shall
suffer, in short, for their disloyalty all the miseries endured by
the people of Saguntum for their loyalty. § 5. Let them not
take confidence from the unlooked-for success of the men of
Parma against the second Frederick, let them rather bethink
them of the fate of Milan and Spoleto at the hands of Barba-
rossa. Insensate fools! not to perceive how they are rushing
on their fate, in their resistance to the divine law, in the true
observance of which is perfect liberty. § 6. Destruction awaits
Florence a second time, if they repent not ere it be too late.
Let them remember that Henry, the elect of God, has taken
upon him his heavy task not for his own sake, but for the
public weal ; and if they hope for pardon let them consider
that the hour for repentance is now at hand, forthe impenitent
sinner shall be smitten so that he shall surely die.

Dantes Alagherii* Florentinus et exul immeritus
scelestissimis Florentinis intrinsecis}

§ 1. Aeterni pia providentia Regis, qui dum coelestia

sua bonitate perpetuat, infera nostra despiciendo non

5 deserit, sacrosancto Romanorum imperio res humanas

MS. = Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729 O. = Oxford Dante

a 0. Aligherius

1 This was the usual term for those within the city ; cf. the title
of Pope Clement IVs bull of Nov. 22, 1266 : ' Universis civibus
Florentinis intrinsecis et extrinsecis ' (apud Potthast, Regesta
Pontificum Romanorum, No. 19878).

EPISTOLA VI 67

disposuit gubernandas, ut sub tanti serenitate praesidii
genus mortale quiesceret, et ubique, natura poscente, 5
civiliter degeretur. 1 Hoc etsi divinis comprobatur

10 elogiis a 2 , hoc etsi solius podio rationis innixa contestatur
antiquitas, 3 non leviter tamen veritati applaudit, quod b
solio Augustali vacante totus orbis exorbitat, 4 quod
nauclerus et remiges in navicula Petri dormitant, 5 et 10

15 quod Italia misera, sola, privatis arbitriis derelicta,
omnique c publico moderamine destituta, quanta ven-
torum fluctuumque fl concussione feratur c verba non
caperent, 7 sed et vix Itali e infelices lacrymis metiuntur.

20 Igitur in hanc Dei manifestissimam voluntatem quicum- 15
que temere praesumendo tumescunt, si gladius eius qui

a 0. eloquiis b MS. sed ° MS. omnibasque d MS. Jluentuum ue
e MS. italie

1 Cf. Conv. iv. 4, 11. 111-31 ; 5, 11. 60-9 ; Mon. i. 5 ; ii. 1, 11. 11-20.

2 The substitution of eloquiis for elogiis is quite uncalled for.
Papias says : ' Elogium, titulus cuiuslibet rei, proverbium, . . . elo-
quium . . . divinum responsum ' ; and Uguccione da Pisa and
Giovanni da Genova : ' hoc ehgium, idest proverbium et responsum
divinum . . . et textus carminum . . . vel deorum mysterium ; unde
hic elogius, versiculus \ Du Cange quotes instances of the use of
elogium in Cent. xii and xiv in the sense of testamentum, in which
sense it occurs repeatedly in the Pandects of Justinian. On the
other hand the phrase divina eloquia occurs twice (in at least one
MS., as well as in the printed editions) in the De Monarchia (iii. 4,
1. 88 ; 10, 1. 13 ; cf. ii. 9, 1. 101).

3 That is, it is testified to both by the Scriptures and by pagan
writers ; for the latter, cf. Mon. ii. 4, 11. 23-70.

4 Cf. Epist. viii. 45-6.

B Cf. Par. xi. 119 : ' la barca di Pietro ' ; and Conv. iv. 5, 1. 67 : ' la
nave della umana compagnia '.

6 Cf. Purg. vi. 76-7 : l Italia . . . Nave senza nocchiere in gran
tempesta ' ; cf. also Mon. i. 16, 11. 26 ff.

7 Cf. Epist. iii (iv). 14-15. t

f2

68 LETTERS OF DANTE

dicit, 'mea est ultio', 1 de coelo non cecidit, ex nunc

25 severi iudicis adventante iudicio pallore notentur.

§ 2. Vos autem divina iura et humana transgredientes,
quos dira cupiditatis ingluvies paratos in omne nefas 20

30 illexit, nonne terror secundae mortis 2 exagitat, ex quo,
primi et soli iugum libertatis a horrentes, in Romani
principis, Mundi regis et Dei ministri, gloriam fre-
muistis 4 ; atque iure praescriptionis utentes, debitae

35 subiectionis officium denegando, in rebellionis vesaniam 25
maluistis insurgere ? 5 An ignoratis, amentes et discoli, 6
pubiica iura cum sola temporis terminatione finiri, et
nullius praescriptionis calculo fore obnoxia a ? Nempe

40 legum sanctiones almae b7 declarant, et humana ratio
percunctando decernit, publica rerum dominia, quanta- 30
libet diuturnitate neglecta, nunquam posse vanescere vel

45 abstenuata conquiri c . Nam quod ad omnium cedit
utilitatem, sine omnium detrimento interire non potest,
vel etiam infirmari. Et hoc Deus et natura non vult,
et mortalium penitus abhorreret adsensus d . Quid e fatua 35

50 tali opinione submota, tamquam alteri Babylonii, 8 pium
deserentes imperium nova regna tentatis, ut alia sit
Florentina civilitas, alia sit Romana ? Cur apostolicae f

a MS. dbnoxias b 0. altissime c MS. conqueri d MS. ascensus
e MS. quod f MS. apostolocice

1 Deut. xxxii. 35. 2 Eev. xxi. 8; cf. Inf. i. 117.

3 Cf. Epist. i. 29: 'iugum piae legis'; and 11. 157-60 of this
letter.

4 Cf. Mon. ii. 1, 11. 22-3. 6 Cf. Epist. vii. 155.

6 1 Peter ii. 18. 7 See note on Epist. v, tit. 2.

8 By Babylonii here Dante evidently means the builders of the
Tower of Babel ; cf. Gen. xi. 4: 'Venite, faciamus nobis civitatem,
et turrim. . . \

EPISTOLA VI 69

monarchiae similiter invidere non libet; ut si Delia

55 geminatur in coelo, geminetur et Delius ? l Atqui si 40
male ausa 2 rependere vobis non est terrori, 3,3 territet
saltem b obstinata praecordia, quod non modo sapientia,

60 sed initium eius 4 ad poenam culpae vobis ablatum est.
Nulla etenim conditio delinquentis formidolosior, quam
impudenter et sine Dei timore quidquid libet agentis. 45
Hac nimirum persaepe animadversione percutitur im-

65 pius, ut moriens obliviscatur sui, qui dum viveret oblitus
est Dei.

§ 3. Sin prorsus arrogantia vestra insolens adeo roris
altissimi, ceu cacumina Gelboe, 5 vos fecit exsortes, ut 50

70 senatus aeterni consulto restitisse timori non fuerit, nec
etiam non timuisse timetis ; numquid timor ille perni-
ciosus, humanus videlicet atque mundanus, abesse

75 poterit, superbissimi vestri sanguinis vestraeque multum
lacrymandae rapinae inevitabili naufragio properante ? 55
An septi vallo ridiculo cuiquam defensioni confiditis c ?
O male concordes ! O mira cupidine obcaecati d 6 ! Quid

a MS., 0. vobis terrori non est b MS. saltin c MS. confidetis

d MS., 0. caecati

1 That is, the Moon and the Sun, typifying, as *the lesser and
the greater light ', the Empire and the Papacy — see Epist. v. 169-70,
and note. 2 Cf. Epist. vii. 152.

3 The MS. reading violates the cursus; the reading in the text
follows a suggestion of Parodi (see Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix. 258).

4 Psalm cx. 10 : ' initium sapientiae timor Domini '.

5 2 Sam. i. 21 ; cf. Purg. xii. 41-2.

6 The MS. reading violates the cursus ; the reading in the text is
due to a suggestion of Parodi (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix. 258),
who proposes occaecati. The word obcaecare occurs several times in
the Vulgate (e. g. Ecclus. xxv. 24 ; xliii. 4 ; Mark vi. 52 ; 1 John ii.
11) ; the phrase ' obcaecati cupiditate ' occurs in Cicero's De Finibus
(i. 10), a work with which Dante was familiar.

70 LETTERS OF DANTE

80 vallo sepsisse, quid propugnaculis vos a et pinnis b x ar-
masse iuvabit, 2 quum advolaverit aquila in auro terri-
bilis, 3 quae nunc Pirenen, nunc Caucason, nunc Atlanta 4 60
supervolans, militiae coeli 5 magis confortata sufflamine 6

85 vasta maria quondam transvolando despexit ? Quid,
quum adfore stupescetis, miserrimi hominum, delirantis
Hesperiae 7 domitorem ? Non equidem spes quam frustra
a MS. omits vos b 0. p. etp. vos

1 This reading follows a suggestion of Parodi (loc. cit.).

2 This refers to the fortifications hastily erected by the Floren-
tines in the previous winter in order to withstand the Emperor,
who had crossed the Alps into Italy at the end of October;
cf. Villani (ix. 10) : ' Nel detto anno il di di sant' Andrea [Nov. 30,
1310], i Fiorentini per tema della venuta dello 'mperadore si
ordinarono a chiudere la citta di fossi dalla porta a San Gallo
infino alla porta di santo Ambrogio . . . e poi infino al fiume
d'Arno : e poi, dalla porta di San Gallo infino a quella dal Prato
d'Ognissanti, erano gia fondate le mura, si le feciono inalzare otto
braccia. E questo lavoro fu fatto subito e in.poco tempo, la qual
cosa fermamente fu poi lo scampo della citta di Firenze . . . im-
percioeche la citta era tutta schiusa, e le mura vecchie quasi gran
parte disfatte, e vendute a' prossimani vicini per allargare la citta
vecchia, e chiudere i borghi e la giunta nuova.'

3 The Imperial standard was a black eagle on a field of gold (' il
campo ad oro e V aguglia nera ', Villani, iv. 4) ; this no doubt was
what Dante imagined the ancient Koman standard to have been
(cf. Purg. x. 80-1 : ' 1'aquile nell' oro . . . in vista al vento si
movieno , of the standards of the Emperor Trajan).

4 Representing respectively the W.-most, E.-most, and S.-most
mountain ranges of the then civilized world.

5 Deut. xvii. 3 ; Acts vii. 42.

6 Sufflamen is here used not in its classical sense of 'drag' or
'check', but in its mediaeval sense of 'support'. Uguccione da
Pisa and Giovanni da Genova say : ' Sufflare, idest appodiare, fulcire,
appodiamen supponere ; unde hoc snfflamen . . . appodiamen, scilicet cui
aliquid innititur ut sustentetur '.

7 Cf. 'delirantis aevi familiam ' in the first Battifolle letter
t. vii*).

EPISTOLA VI 71

sine more fovetis, reluctantia ista iuvabitur, sed hac 65

90 obice a iusti regis adventus inflammabitur amplius b , ac
indignata misericordia semper concomitans eius exerci-
tum avolabit ; et quo falsae libertatis trabeam * tueri

95 existimatis, eo verae servitutis in ergastula concidetis .
Miro namque Dei iudicio quandoque agi credendum est, 70
ut unde digna supplicia impius d declinare arbitratur,
inde e in ea gravius praecipitetur ; et qui divinae volun-

100 tati reluctatus est et sciens et volens, eidem militet
nesciens atque nolens. 2

§ 4. Videbitis aedificia vestra non necessitati pru- 75
denter instructa, sed delitiis inconsulte mutata, quae

105 Pergama rediviva 8 non cingunt, tam ariete ruere, tristes,
quam igne cremari. Videbitis plebem circumquaque
furentem nunc in contraria, pro et contra, deinde f ih

110 idem adversus vos horrenda clamantem, quoniam simul 80
et g ieiuna h et timida nescit esse. 4 Templa quoque
spoliata, quotidie matronarum frequentata concursu,
parvulosque admirantes et inscios peccata patrum luere

115 destinatos 5 videre pigebit. Et si praesaga mens 6 mea

a MS. abice b MS. ampius c MS. cancidetis d MS. ipius

6 MS. unde f MS. unde g MS. omits et h MS. ienuna

1 Trabea, which Fraticelli renders by ' bandiera ', and Latham by
* robe ', is here used in the mediaeval sense, explained by Uguccione
da Pisa and Giovanni da Genova as ' porticus tecta trabibus ', that
is literally, a ' porch '. 2 Cf. Epist. v. 135-41.

3 As Moore notes in Studies in Dante (i. 179), Virgil in three
passages in the Aeneid (iv. 344 ; vii. 322 ; x. 58) speaks of ' recidiva
Pergama', for which in two out of the three there is a variant
' rediviva ', which no doubt was the reading of the MS. used by
Dante. * Lucan, Phars. iii. 58 : ' Nescit plebes ieiuna timere \

5 Cf. Par. vi. 109-10 : ' Molte fiate gia pianser li figli Per la colpa
del padre '. 6 Cf. Aen. x. 843 : ' praesaga mali mens '.

72 LETTERS OF DANTE

non fallitur, sic signis veridicis, sicut inexpugnabilibus 85
argumentis instructa praenuntians, urbem diutino
moerore confectam in manus alienorum tradi finaliter,

120 plurima vestri parte seu nece a seu captivitate b deperdita,
perpessuri c exilium pauci cum fletu cernetis. Utque
breviter colligam, quas tulit calamitates illa civitas 90
gloriosa in fide pro libertate, Saguntum, 1 ignominiose

125 vos eas in perfidia pro servitute subire necesse est.

§ 5. Nec ab inopina Parmensium fortuna sumatis au-
daciam, qui, malesuada fame 2 urgente, murmurantes in

130 invicem, ' prius moriamur d et in media arma ruamus \ s 95
in castra Caesaris, absente Caesare, proruperunt. Nam
et hi, quamquam de Victoria victoriam sint e 4 adepti,

a MS. neci b MS. captivitati c MS. perpeirsuri d 0. mur-
murantes invicem prius l moriamur e 0. sunt

1 Saguntum (an ancient town on the E. coast of Spain, on the
site of the present Murviedro) was on friendly terms with the
Romans, and its siege by Hannibal (219-218 b.c.) was the imme-
diate cause of the Second Punic War. The horrors of the siege,
which lasted nine months, are described in detail by St. Augustine
in the De Civilate Dei (iii. 20), who was doubtless Dante's authority.
St. Augustine lays great stress on the fact that the Saguntines
underwent all these horrors rather than break faith with Rome —
' ne Romanis frangerent fidem '.

2 Aen. vi. 276.

8 Aen. ii. 353. The phrase in invicem, the reading of the MS. in the
previous clause, occurs frequently in the Vulgate (e. g. John vi. 43 ;
Bom. i. 27 ; xiv. 19 ; 1 Thess. iii. 12 ; v. 15 ; 2 Thess. i. 3). This
correction restores the cursus — ' (murmur)antes in invicem ' (tardus)
— which also shows that prius was intended by Dante to fofm part
of the quotation, the required pause coming not at that word but
at invicem.

4 Dante invariably uses quamquam with the subjunctive.

5 The reference is to an incident during the siege of Parma by
Frederick II in 1248, which is related by Villani (vi. 34). The

EPISTOLA VI 73

nihilominus ibi sunt de dolore dolorem memorabiliter

135 consecuti. Sed recensete fulmina Federici prioris ; et

Mediolanum consulite pariter et Spoletum T ; quoniam 100

ipsorum perversione simul et eversione discussa viscera

140 vestra nimium dilatata frigescent, et corda vestra

nimium ferventia contrahentur. 2 Ha a Tuscorum va-

nissimi, tam natura quam vitio insensati b ! Quam c in

noctis tenebris malesanae mentis pedes 3 oberrent ante 105

145 oculos pennatorum, 4 nec perpenditis nec d figuratis ignari.

a 0. Ah b MS. incensati c O. Quantum d MS. omits nec

Emperor, in order to hasten the reduction of the town, built
a fortress to face it which he called Victoria. One day, however,
while the Emperor was absent on a hunting expedition, the
Parmesans, rendered desperate by famine, made a sortie, and
captured and destroyed the fortress, taking at the same time an
immense booty including the Imperial crown, and forcing the
Emperor to retire to Cremona.

1 Villani records (v. 1) how the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
besieged and destroyed Spoleto in 1152, and Milan in 1157, the
site of the latter being ploughed and sown with salt ; cf. Purg. xviii.
119-20.

2 One might be tempted at first sight to suggest that the verbs
in these two sentences have accidentally got transposed ; but the
cursus— 1 (dila)tata frigescent' (planus), * (fer)ventia contrahentur '
(velox) — proves that no such hypothesis is admissible.

3 A bold metaphor, with which may be compared ' humana
ratio propriis pedibus ' (Mon. ii. 8, 1. 9) ; 'spatulas iudicii' (V. E.
i. 6, 1. 22) ; and ' piedi del coto ' (Par. iii. 26-7).

4 'Pennati', i.e. those who have attained to years of discretion,
men of experience. Cf. Prov. i. 17, and Purg. xxxi. 61-3 : 'Nuovo
augelletto due o tre aspetta ; Ma dinanzi dagli occhi dei pennuti
Eete si spiega indarno o si saetta.' Pistelli (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital.,
N.S. xxiv. 64) makes the plausible suggestion that the words
' et rete frustra iaciatur ' have been accidentally omitted by the
copyist, and that the sentence should read : ' Quam in noctis
tenebris malesanae mentis pedes oberrent, et rete frustra iaciatur
ante oculos pennatorum '.

74 LETTERS OF DANTE

Vident namque vos pennati et immaculati in via, 1 quasi
stantes in limine a carceris, et miserantem quempiam, ne
forte vos liberet captivatos et b2 in compedibus ad-

150 strictos et manicis, propulsantes. Nec advertitis c domi- lio
nantem cupidinem, quia caeci estis, venenoso susurrio d 3
blandientem, minis frustatoriis 4 cohibentem, nec non

155 captivantem e vos in lege peccati, 6 ac sacratissimis legi-
bus, quae iustitiae naturalis imitantur imaginem, parere
vetantem ; observantia quarum, si laeta, si libera, non 115
tantum non servitus esse probatur, quin immo, perspica-

160 citer intuenti, liquet 6 ut f est ipsa summa libertas. Nam
quid aliud haec nisi liber cursus voluntatis in actum, quem
suis leges mansuetis expediunt ? Itaque solis existentibus

165 liberis qui voluntarie legi obediunt, quos g vos esse 120
censebitis, qui, dum praetenditis libertatis affectum,
contra leges universas in legum principem conspiratis ?

a MS. lumine b MS. etiam c MS. aduertis d 0. susurro

e MS. captiuiiaiem f 0. quin immo perspicaciter intuenti liguet, ut

s MS. quas

1 Psalm cxviii. 1.

2 Pistelli (loc. cit.) suggests that for the eiiam {%) of the MS. the
correct reading may be et iam.

3 Susurrium was a recognized mediaeval form ; Giovanni da
Genova, s. v. susurro, says : l unde hoc susurrium, -rii, murmnr,
latens locutio', and he quotes as an instance Job iv. 12, where,
however, the modern Vulgate reads not susurrii but susurri. Du
Cange quotes instances of the word from St. Jerome and St. Bernard.
This correction restores the cursus — ' (su)surrio blandientem' (velox).

4 Presumably for frustratoriis. Wicksteed renders ' with scourging
threats ', as though the word were connected with Italian frustare,
1 to whip ' ; but there seems to be no warrant for this.

5 Rom. vii. 23.

6 The cursus — ' (perspi)caciter intuoiiti' (velox) — shows tliat the
pause comes not at liquet but at intuenti.

EPISTOLA VI 75

§ 6. O miserrima Faesulanorum propago, 1 et iterum

170 iam punita a 2 barbaries ! An parum timoris praelibata

incutiunt ? Omnino vos tremere arbitror vigilantes, 125

quamquam spem simuletis in facie verboque mendaci,

atque in somniis expergisci plerumque, sive pavescentes

175 infusa praesagia, sive diurna consilia recolentes. Verum

si merito trepidantes insanisse poenitet non dolentes, 3

ut in amaritudinem poenitentiae metus dolorisque rivuli b 130

180 confluant, vestris animis infigenda supersunt, quod

Romanae rei baiulus, 4 hic divus c5 et triumphator 6

a 0. Punica b MS. riuoli c O. baiulus hic, divus

1 Cf. Inf xv. 61-2 : ' QuelF ingrato popolo maligno, Che discese
di Fiesole ab antico * ; and 1. 73 : ' le bestie Fiesolane ', i. e. the
Florentines. According to the Florentine tradition, Fiesole, after
being besieged by Julius Caesar for neai*ly nine years, was destroyed
by the Komans, who then founded Florence, which was peopled
with a mixture of Komans and Fiesolans (cf. Villani, i. 31-8).

2 The Punica of the Oxford text is due to a misreading of the MS.
by the original transcriber. The correction is due in the first
place to W. Meyer (see his Fragmenta Burana, Berlin, 1901, pp. 156-7),
who suspected Punica, not only on account of the doubtful Latinity
of the phrase 'iterum iam Punica barbaries', but also as violating
the cursus, which is restored — ' (pu)nita barbaries ' (tardus) — by the
correction. There is no doubt as to the MS. reading. Dante here
threatens the Florentines with the destruction of their city a second
time, the first having been, as he and his contemporaries believed,
at the hands of Attila (cf. Inf. xiii. 148-9), or Totila (cf. Villani,
ii. 1 ; iii. 1). (See Moore, Sludies in Dante, iv. 280-1.) As a matter
of fact there appears to be no truth in the tradition (which doubt-
less arose from a confusion of Attila with Totila, King of the
Ostrogoths, by whose forces Florence was besieged in 542) that
Florence was destroyed either by Attila or Totila.

3 Cf. 2 Cor. vii. 9-10. 4 Cf. Par. vi. 73.

5 All the editors punctuate ' baiulus hic, divus' ; but the cursus —
'(Romanae) r<5i baiulus' (ra)— shows that hic belongs to the next
clause, as indeed all the Italian editors recognize in their transla-
tion, which is in contradiction with their text.

6 Cf. Epist. vii tit.

76 LETTERS OF DANTE

Henricus, non sua privata sed publica mundi commoda
sitiens, ardua pro a nobis aggressus est, sua sponte poenas

185 nostras participans, tamquam ad ipsum, post Christum, 135
digitum prophetiae propheta direxerit Isaias, quum,
Spiritu Dei revelante, praedixit : ' Vere languores nostros
ipse tulit,et dolores nostros ipse portavit.' 1 Igitur tempus

190 amarissime poenitendi vos temere b praesumptorum c , si
dissimulare non vultis, adesse conspicitis. Et sera poeni- 140
tentia hoc a modo 2 veniae genitiva non erit ; quin potius

195 tempestivae animadversionis exordium. Est enim :
quoniam peccator percutitur ut sine retractatione moria-
tur. d3

Scriptum e pridie Kalendas f Apriles 8 in finibus Tu- 145
sciae 4 sub fonte h Sarni, 5 faustissimi cursus Henrici

200 Caesaris ad Italiam anno primo. 6

a MS. quocl ; 0. quaeque pro b MS. tremere c MS. presuptorum
d MS. riuantur ; 0. revertatur e MS. Scripsit f 0. prid. Kal.

g MS. aprileis ; 0. Aprilis h 0. fontem

1 Isaiah liii. 4.

2 That is, repentance without sorrow (1. 177) ; there is no doubt
a reference to 2 Cor. vii. 9-10.

3 The MS. reading is obviously corrupt ; the emendation in the
text is due to Moore, who thinks it probable that Dante had in
mind the Biblical phrase in the Vulgate (1 Sam. xiv. 39) : ' absque
retractatione morietur ' (the only instance of the word retractatio in
the Vulgate). (See Studies in Dante, iv. 281-3.)

4 Dante was probably at this time the guest of Guido Novello
di Battifolle, at the castle of Poppi, in the Casentino (cf. the
colophon of the third Battifolle letter, Epist. vii***).

6 See note on Epist. iv (iii). 13. The Arno rises, at the height of
over 4,000 ft. above the sea, among the spurs of Falterona in the
Tuscan Apennines. The castle of Poppi is situated on the Arno
some fifteen miles below its actual source.

6 See above, p. 65.

EPISTOLA VI 77

Translation

Dante Alighieri, a Florentine undeservedly in exile, to thc
most iniquitous Florentincs within tJie city.

§ 1. The gracious providence of the Eternal King, who in
his goodness ever rules the affairs of the world above, yet
ceases not to look down upon our concerns here below,
committed to the Holy Roman Empire the governance of
human affairs, to the end that mankind might repose in
the peace of so powerful a protection, and everywhere, as
nature demands, might live as citizens of an ordered
world. And though the proof of this is to be found in
holy writ, and though the ancients relying on reason alone
bear witness thereto, yet is it no small confirmation of the
truth, that when the throne of Augustus is vacant, the
whole world goes out of course, the helmsman and rowers
slumber in the ship of Peter, and unhappy Italy, forsaken
and abandoned to private control, and bereft of all public
guidance, is tossed with such buffeting of winds and waves
as no words can describe, nay as even the Italians in their
woe can scarce measure with their tears.*X Wherefore let
all who in mad presumption have risen up against this
most manifest will of God, now grow pale at the thought
of the judgement of the stern Judge, which is nigh at hand,
if so be the sword of Him who saith, ' Vengeance is mine ',
be not fallen out of heaven. y

§ 2. *1But you, who transgress every law of God and man,
and whom the insatiable greed of avarice has urged all too
willing into every crime, does the dread of the second
death not haunt you, seeing that you first and you alone,
shrinking from the yoke of liberty, have murmured
against the glory of the Roman Emperor, the king of the
earth, and minister of God ; and under cover of prescrip-
tive right, refusing the duty of submission due to him,
have chosen rather to rise up in the madness of rebellion ?Y
Have you to learn, senseless and perverse 1 as you are,
that public right can be subject to no reckoning by

1 ' Discoli' — the word occurs in the Vulgate (1 Peter ii. 18).

78 LETTERS OF DANTE

prescription, but must endure so long as time itself
endures ? Verily the sacred precepts of the law declare,
and human reason after inquiry has decided, that public
control of affairs, however long neglected, can never become
of no effect, nor be superseded, however much it be
weakened. For nothing which tends to the advantage of
all can be destroyed, or even impaired, without injury to
all — a thing contrary to the intention of God and nature,
and which would be utterly abhorrent to the opinion of
all mankind. Wherefore, then, being disabused of such
an idle conceit, do you abandon the Holy Empire, and,
like the men of Babel once more, seek to found new
kingdoms, so that there shall be one polity of Florence,
and another of Kome ? And why should not the Apostolic
govemment be the object of a like envy, so that, if the one
twin of Delos have her double in the heavens, the other
should have his likewise l ? But if reflection upon your
evil designs bring you no fears, at least let this strike
terror into your hardened hearts, that as the penalty for
your crime not only wisdom, but the beginning of wisdom, 2
has been taken from you. For no condition of the sinner
is more terrible than that of him who, shamelessly and
without the fear of God, does whatsoever he lists. Full
often, indeed, the wicked man is smitten with this
punishment, that as during life he has been oblivious of
God, so when he dies he is rendered oblivious of himself.
§ 3. But if your insolent arrogance has so deprived you
of the dew from on high, like the mountain-tops of Gilboa,
that you have not feared to resist the decree of the eternal
senate, and have felt no fear at not having feared, shall
that deadly fear, to wit human and worldly fear, not over-
whelm you, when the inevitable shipwreck of your proud
race, and the speedy end of your deeply to be rued law-
lessness, shall be seen to be hard at hand ? Do you put

1 'Delia' and 'Delius' (Diana and Apollo), that is, the Moon
and the Sun, typifying, as 'the lesser and the greater light', the
Empire and the Papacy (cf. Mon. iii. 4, 11. 10-21).

2 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (Psalm
cxi. 10).

EPISTOLA VI 79

your trust in defences, in that you are girt about by a con-
temptible rampart? Oyou of one mind only for evil !
O you blinded by wondrous greed ! What shall it avail
you to have girt you with a rampart, and to have fortified
yourselves with bulwarks and battlements, when, terrible
in gold, the eagle shall swoop down upon you, which,
soaring now over the Pyrenees, now over Caucasus, now
over Atlas, ever strengthened by the support of the host of
heaven, gazed down of old on the vast expanse of ocean in
its flight ? What shall these avail you, most wretched of
men, when you stand confounded in the presence of him
who shall subdue the raging of Hesperia? The hopes
which you vainly cherish in your unreason will not be
furthered by your rebellion ; but by this resistance the
just wrath of the king at his coming will be but the more
inflamed against you, and mercy, which ever accompanies
his army, shall fly away indignant ; and where you think
to defend the threshold of false liberty, there in sooth
shall you fall into the dungeon of slavery. For by the
wondrous judgement of God, as we must believe, it some-
times comes to pass that by the very means whereby the
wicked man thinks to escape the punishment which is his
due, he is the more fatally hurried into it ; and that he
who wittingly and willingly is a rebel against the divine
will, is unwittingly and unwillingly a soldier in its
service.

§ 4. The buildings which you have raised, not in
prudence to serve your needs, but have recklessly altered
to gratify your wantonness, these, encircled by no walls
of a renovated Troy, to your grief you shall see crumble
beneath the battering-ram, arid devoured by the flames.
The populace which now, divided against itself, rages
indiscriminately, some for you, some against you, you
shall then see united in their imprecations against you,
for the starving mob knows nothing of fear. With
remorse, too, you shall behold the spoliation of your
temples, thronged daily by a concourse of matrons, and
your children doomed in wonder and ignorance to sufter
f or the sins of their f athers. And if my prophetic soul be
not deceived, which announces what it has been taught by

80 LETTERS OF DANTE

infallible signs and incontrovertible arguments, your city,
worn out with ceaseless mourning, shall be delivered at
the last into the hands of the stranger, after the greatest
part of you has been destroyed in death or captivity ; and
the few that shall be left to endure exile shall witness her
downfall with tears and lamentation. Those sufferings,
in short, which for liberty's sake the glorious city of
Saguntum endured in her loyalty, you in your disloyalty
must undergo with shame but to become slaves.

§ 5. And beware of gathering confidence from the
unlooked-for success of the men of Parma, who under the
spur of hunger, that evil counsellor, murmuring to one
another, * Let us rather rush into the midst of battle and
meet death ', broke into the camp of Caesar while Caesar
was absent. For even they, though they gained a victory
over Victoria, none the less reaped woe from that woe in
a way not like to be forgotten. But bethink you of the
thunderbolts of the first Frederick ; consider the fate of
Milan and of Spoleto ; for at the remembrance of their
disobedience and swift overthrow your too swollen flesh
shall grow chill, and your too hot hearts shall contract. 1
O most foolish of the Tuscans, insensate alike by
nature and by corruption, who neither consider nor
understand in your ignorance how before the eyes of the
full-fledged the feet of your diseased minds go astray in
the darkness of night ! For the full-fledged and un-
defiled in the way behold you standing as it were on the
threshold of the prison, and thrusting aside any that has
pity on you, lest haply he should deliver you from
captivity and loose you from the chains that bind your
hands and your feet. Nor are ye ware in your blind-
ness of the overmastering greed which beguiles you with
venomous whispers, and with cheating threats constrains
you, yea, and has brought you into captivity to the law
of sin, and forbidden you to obey the most sacred laws ;
those laws made in the likeness of natural justice, the
observance whereof, if it be joyous, if it be free, is not
only no servitude, but to him who observes with under-
1 See p. 73, n. 2.

EPISTOLA VI 81

standing is manifestly in itself the most perfect liberty.
For what else is this liberty but the free passage from wiil
to act, which the laws make easy for those who obey them?
Seeing, then, that they only are free who of their own will
submit to the law, what do you call yourselves, who, while
you make pretence of a love of liberty, in defiance of every
law conspire against the Prince who is the giver of the
law?

§ 6. most wretched offshoot of Fiesole ! barbarians
punished now a second time ! Does the foretaste not
suffice to terrify you ? Of a truth I believe that, for all
you simulate hope in your looks and lying lips, yet you
tremble in your waking hours, and ever start from your
dreams in terror at the portents which have visited you,
or rehearsing again the counsels you have debated by day.
But if, while alarmed with good reason, you repent you
of your madness, yet feel no remorse, then, that the
streams of fear and remorse may unite in the bitter waters
of repentance, bear this further in mind, that the guardian
of the Roman Empire, the triumphant Henry, elect of
God, thirsting not for his own but for the public good, has
for our sakes undertaken his heavy task, sharing our
pains of his own free will, as though to him, after Christ,
the prophet Isaiah had pointed the finger of prophecy,
when by the revelation of the Spirit of God he declared,
'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows'.
Wherefore you perceive, if you be not dissemblers, that
the hour of bitter repentance for your mad presumption
is now at hand. But a late repentance after this wise will
not purchase pardon, rather is it but the prelude to
seasonable chastisement. For ' the sinner is smitten so
that he shall surely die \

Written from beneath the springs of Arno, on the con-
fines of Tuscany, on the thirty-first day of March in the
first year of the most auspicious passage of the Emperor
Henry into Italy.

82

EPISTOLA VII

( c Immensa Dei dilectione tcstante')

To the Emperor Henry VII

[April 17, 1311]

MSS. — The Latin text of this letter (which, like that to the
Princes and Peoples of Italy (Epist. v), was first known in an
early Italian translation, 1 formerly attributed to Marsilio
Ficino) has been preserved in three MSS.,two of the fourteenth
century, naniely the Vatican MS. (Cod. Vat-Palat. Lat. 1729)
already mentioned, in which it occurs first of the nine letters
attributed to Dante in the MS. 2 ; and Cod. S. Pantaleo 8 in the
Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele at Rome, which contains also an
Italian translation of the letter, as well as the Latin text of
Epist. v 3 ; and one of the fifteenth century (Cod. Marciano
Latino xiv. 115) in the Biblioteca Marciana at Venice. 4 The
relationships between these three texts it is not easy to deter-
mine. A careful collation shows that V. and P., the two four-

1 See below, p. 84. The existence of the Latin text was recorded
in the seventeenth century by Lorenzo Pignoria of Padua (1571-
1631), who in his notes to the De Rebus Gestis Henrici VII of Albertino
Mussato mentions that he had in his own possession a MS. of it :
1 Dantes vatum clarissimus hisce diebus epistolam scripsit Henrico,
quam nacti in pervetusto codice nostro manuscripto publici iuris
facere decrevimus, et describi curavimus seorsum in calce spicilegii
nostri, cum aliis nonnullis eiusdem aevi monumentis ; et eius-
dem epistolae meminit Jo Villanus, lib. 9, cap. 35. Quam etiam
Italice redditam vidimus et editam Florentiae, anno 1547' (see
Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, x. 385).

2 See above, p. 1. 3 See above, p. 42.

4 This is the MS. from which Witte first printed the Latin text.
Witte's attention having been drawn to the fact that extracts from
the letter in Latin were printed in the Catalogue of the Biblioteca
Muranese, search was made, through the kind offices of the
Murehese Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, by the Abate Giovanni Antonio
Moschini, the Prefetto of the Biblioteca Marciana, whither the

EPISTOLA VII 83

teenth-century MSS. (Vatican and S. Pantaleo), are in agree-
ment, as against M. (the Marcian MS.), in 75 instances l ; while
P. and M. are in agreenient, as against V., in 25 instances 2 ;
and V. and M., as against P., in 18 instances. 3 A strong link
between P. and M., as against V., is the fact that these two con-
tain both title and colophon of the letter (though not in entirely
identical terms), which are omitted in V. On the otber hand,
M. omits a passage of several lines (11. 152-4 inthe Oxfordtext)
which is found in both V. and P., and contains a large number
of blunders 4 which are absent from the other two. A considera-
tion of the data seems to warrant the conclusion that the
relationship between V. and P. is on the whole closer than that
of either of them to M.°

Printed Texts. 6 — 1. Witte (1827): Epist. vi (op. cit., pp.
30-46). 2. Fraticelli (1840) : Epist. iii (op. cit., pp. 230-49).
3. Torri (1842) : Epist. vii (op. cit., pp. 52-60). 4. Fraticelli
(1857) : Epist. vii (op. cit., pp. 488-98). 5. Giuliani (1882) :
Epist. vii (op. cit., pp. 22-6). 6. Bartoli (1884) : in Storia della
Letteratura Italiana (vol. v, pp. 233-6). 7. Scartazzini (1890) :
in Prolegomeni della Divina Commedia (pp. 111-15). 8. Moore
(1894): Epist. vii (op. cit., pp. 409-11). 9. Passerini (1910):
Epist. vii (op. cit, pp. 62-78). 10. Paget Toynbee (1912):
(diplomatic transcript of the Vatican text, together with
collations of the various readings of the several printed editions

spoils of the Murano library had been transferred, with the result
that the MS. containing the letter was discovered, and placed at
Witte's disposal for the purposes of his projected edition of Dante's
letters, afterwards issued at Padua in 1827.

1 See Appendix D. i. 2 See Appendix D. ii.

3 See Appendix D. iii. 4 See Appendix D. i.

5 Parodi, however, as ifc seems to me on insufficient data, thinks
that P. and M. belong to the same family (see Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital.,
N.S. xix. 253; xxii. 140). P. Wagner, on the other hand, places V.
and M. in one group, and P. in another (see Die Echtheit der drei
Kaiserbriefe Dantes, Koln, 1907, p. 11).

6 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

g2

84 LETTERS OF DANTE

of the letter and a list of proposed emendations in the Oxford
text) in Modern Language Review (vol. vii, pp. 6-12). 11. Paget
Toynbee (1912) : (diplomatic transcript of the S. Pantaleo text,
together with collations of the Vatican and Venetian texts, and
a further list of proposed emendations in the Oxford text) iu'
Modern Language Review (vol. vii, pp. 209-14). 12. Paget
Toynbee (1912) : (diplomatic transcript of the Venetian text,
together with collations of the Vatican and S. Pantaleo texts)
in Modern Language Review (vol. vii, pp. 434-40). 13. Paget
Toynbee (1915) : (critical text, together with collations of the
Vatican, S. Pantaleo, and Venetian texts, and of the various
readings of the several printed editions of the letter, and list of
passages in which this text differs from that of the Oxford
Dante) in Modern Language Review (vol. x, pp. 65-72). 14.
E. Pistelli (1915) : (revised text, with notes) in Piccola Antologia
della Bibbia Volgata . . . con alcune Epistole di Dante . . . (Firenze,
1915 ; pp. 210-19). 15. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. xi (op. cit.,
pp. 263-70).

Translattons. 1 — Italian. 1. Anon. (Cent.xiv): printed by
Pa,get Toynbee (1914) from Cod. S. Pantaleo 8, 2 in Modern
Language Review (vol. ix, pp. 335-43). 2. Anon. (Cent. xiv 3 ) :
printed by Doni (1547), in Prose antiche di Dante, Petrarcha, et
Boccaccio (Fiorenza, 1547; pp. 9-12); and again (1551-2), in
La Zucca del Doni (Vinegia, 1551-2 ; 'I Frutti ', pp. 69-73) ;
by Biscioni (1723;, in Prose di Dante Alighieri e di Messer Gio.

1 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 2, 43-4.

2 On the relations between tliis translation and the S. Pantaleo
Latin text, see Appendix E.

3 This translation, which was formerly attributed to Marsilio
Ficino, has been preserved in at least ten MSS., two probably of
the fourteenth century, the rest of the fifteenth (see P. Wagner,
Die Echtheit der drei Kaiserbriefe Dantes, pp. 10-11). Parodi holds
{Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xxii. 138) that this translation is a later
rifacimento of that contained in the S. Pantaleo MS. ; but see Mod.
Lang. Rev. ix. 332 ff. ; also Wagner, op. cit, p. 11, n. 43.

EPISTOLA VII 85

Boccacci (Firenze, 1723; pp. 211-15); by Moutier (1823), from
Cod. Riccardiano 1050 and 2545, in Cronica di Giovanni Villani
(Firenze, 1823 ; vol. viii, pp. lxv-lxxi) ; by Witte (1827), in
Dantis Alligherii Epistolae quae exstant (Patavii, 1827; pp. 31-
47). 1 3. Balbo (1839) : (extracts) op. cit., pp. 333-5. 4. Frati-
celli (1840): op. cit., pp. 231-49. 5. Torri (1842): op. cit.,
pp. 53-61. 6. Fraticelli (1857) : (revised trans.) op. cit. f
pp. 489-99. 7. Passerini (1910): c^.c*7.,pp. 63-79. 8. Scherillo
(1918) : (extracts) op. cit., vol. i, pp. 169-71. — German. 1. Kanne-
giesser (1845): op. cit., pp. 187-93. 2. Scartazzini (1879):
(extracts) in Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein Leben und seine
Werke (pp. 395-7). 3. Wegele (1897): (extracts) in Dante
AlighierVs Leben und Werke (pp. 238-40). 4. Kraus (1897) :
(extracts) in Dante y sein Leben und sein Werk (pp. 302-4).
—English. 1. Bunbury (1852) : (extracts) in Life and Times of
Dante Alighieri (vol. ii, pp. 141-5). 2. G. W. Greene (1867) :
in Longfe]low's translation of the Divina Commedia (ed. 1867,
vol. ii, p. 455). 3. Latham (1891) : op. cit., pp. 150-9. 4. Wick-
steed(1898): in A Provisional Translation of Dante's Political
Letters (pp. 16-21). 5. Wicksteed (1904) : (revised trans.) in
Translation ofthe Latin Works of Dante Alighieri (pp. 323-30).
6. Paget Toynbee : (see beloiv, pp. 100-5).

Authenticity. — As in the case of the two previous letters,
there can be no question as to the authenticity of this letter, 2
which is one of the three specially mentioned by Villani in the
biographical notice of Dante in his Cronica : ' Quando fu in esilio
. . . in tra 1' altre fece tre nobili pistole ; 1' una mando al reggi-
mentodi Firenze dogliendosi del suo esilio sanza colpa 8 ; 1'altra
mando allo 'mperadore Arrigo quand' era all' assedio di Brescia, 4

1 For a list of the editions of the Bivina Commedia in which this
translation is reprinted, see Koch, Catalogue of the Cornell Dante Collec-
tion, vol. i, p. 75.

2 See above, p. 44.

3 This letter has not been preserved.

4 This is a mistake ; Henry did not lay siege to Brescia until
May 19, more than a month after the date of the letter, which was

86 LETTERS OF DANTE

riprendendolo della sua stanza, quasi profetizzando * ; la terza
a' cardinali italiani, 2 quand' era la vacazione dopo la morte di
papa Clemente, acciocche s'accordassono a eleggere papa
italiano ; tutte in latino con alto dittato, e con eccellenti
sentenzie e autoritadi, le quali furono molto commendate da' savi
intenditori ' (ix. 136). 3

Date. — This, like the previous letter, is one of three among
the letters attributed to Dante which is specificaliy dated, the
colophon giving the date as April 17, 131 l. 4

Summary. — § 1. The legacy of peace was left to mankindby
Christ, but the envy of the devil has brought strife upon the
world. In Italy those who have long mourned in exile look to
the advent of the Emperor to restore peace. § 2. But their
eager hopes are dashed by doubts as to whether he is actually
coming — nevertheless their belief in him as their appointed
saviour is unshaken. § 3. Let the Emperor not consider
Tuscany outside his sphere of action ; let him remember that
the Imperial power is not circumscribed save by the waters of
Ocean ; and let him think on the divine origin of the Roman
Empire. § 4. Let him put an end, then, to delay, which ohly
encourages his enemies, and let him call to mind the exhorta-
tions of Curio to Caesar, and of Mercury to Aeneas. § 5. Let
him not forget the interests of his son, that second Ascanius ;
and let him beware lest he incur the reproach of Samuel against
Saul. § 6. Like Hercules in his combat with the hydra, he is
making the mistake of attacking the separate heads, by attempt-
ingto chastise Milan, Cremona, and the rest, instead of striking
at once at the seat of life. A tree is not destroyed by lopping
off branches ; it is the root which must be extirpated. § 7. The
real seat of mischief is not on Po, nor on Tiber, but on Arno ;
it is Florence, who in resisting Rome is striving to rend her own
mother ; Florence it is that is the centre of corruption. But
written two days before the Emperor left Milan in order to reduce
Cremona (see Chronological Table).

1 The present letter. 2 Epist. viii.

3 In the early editions of Villr.ni this chapter is numbered 135.

4 See above, p. 65.

EPISTOLA VII 87

let her take heed lest the fate of Amata overtake her. § 8. Let
the Emperor, then, arise in his strength, like a second David,
and smite Golia.th, and so bring confusion upon the Philistines,
whereby peace and joy shall be restored, and the miseries of
exile shall become but a memory.

Gloriosissimo atque^felicissimo^Triumphatori^et Domino
singulari, 2 Domino Henrico, divina providentia Roma-
norum Regi c3 et d semper Augustof devotissimi sui
Dantes Alagheriif Florentinus et exul immeritus? ac
universaliter omnes Tusci qui pacem desiderant,te?rae f
oscidum ante pedesfi 6

P. 1 - Cod. S. Pantaleo 8 (Lat. text) P. 2 = Cod. S. Pantaleo 8 (Ital.

trans.) V. = Cod. Vat.-Palat Lat. 1729 M. = Cod. Marciano Lat.

xiv. 115 O. = Oxford Bante (O. 1 = ed. 1894 ; O. 2 = ed. 1897 ;

O. 3 = ed. 1904)

a M.O. omit Gloriosissimo atque; V. omits the whole title b M.O.
Sanctissimo c M. rege d M.O. oniit et e M. Aldigherrj ; 0.

Aligherius f O . pacem desiderant terrae, B 0. osculantur pedes

1 Cf. ' sub triumphis et gloria Henrici ', in the first Battifollo
letter (Epist. vii*) adfin.

2 Cf. ' princeps singularis ', of the Emperor, in the second Batti-
folle letter (Epist. vii**) ; and 'praeses unicus mundi' in this same
letter (1. 125).

3 Henry was not yet technically ' Iraperator ', not having been
crowned at Rome — a ceremony which did not take place until
June 29, 1312.

4 'Semper Augustus' was part of the Emperor's formal title
(cf. Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, ed. 1904, p. 531 : ' From the eleventh
century till the sixteenth, the invariable practice was for the
monarch to be called Romanorum rex semper Augustus till his
coronation at Rome by the Pope ; after it, Romanorum Imperator
semper Augustus'); cf. ' semper Augusta', of the Empress, in the
titles of the three Battifolle letters.

6 See note on Epist. ii. 24.

6 In the textus receptus, which runs ' ac universaliter omnes Tusci

88 LETTERS OF DANTE

§ 1. Immensa Dei dilectione testante, relicta nobis est a

pacis hereditas, 1 ut in sua mira dulcedine militiae 2 no-

5 strae dura mitescerent, et in usu eius patriae triumphan-

tis b3 gaudia mereremur. At livor antiqui et implacabilis

hostis, 4 humanaeprosperitati semper etlatenter c insidians, 5

a V. est nobis b M. triumphis c V. latanter ; M. conlatenter
qui pacem desiderant terrae, osculantur pedes ', and in the transla-
tions based upon it, terrae is construed with pacem desiderant : ' all
the Tuscans everywhere who desire peace upon earfch, offer a kiss
at his feet '. The correct punctuation, however, is that adopted in
the text, the formula being ' terrae osculum ante pedes ' ; as
appears from the titles of two letters, addressed respectively by
the cities of Lucca and of Siena to King Robert of Naples, printed
by Donniges in Acta Henrici VII. Imperatoris Romanorum (Pars ii,
pp. 233-4). The title of the first, which is dated Oct. 13, 1312,
runs : ' Serenissimo principi dno. Roberto, dei gratia etc. . . .
populus et commune Civitatis Lucane, terre obsculum ante pedes .
That of the second, which is undated, runs : 'Serenissimo principi
dno. Roberto, dei gratia etc. . . . Capitanei partis Guelforum
Civitatis Senarum, terre obsculum ante pedes'. This punctuation
is confirmed by the S. Pantaleo Latin text, in which a stroke
(representing a comma) is inserted after desiderant ; as well as by
the two Cent. xiv Italian translations, one of which renders :
'Tutti i Toscani universalmente, che pace desiderano, mandano
baci alla terra dinanzi a vostri piedi' ; and the other (S. Pantaleo) :
' Vniuersalmente tucti I toscanj che pace desiderano / ala terra
denanci ai pedi / basci mandano '. (See my note on A Mispunctuatioa
in the iitle of Dante's Letier to the Emperor Henry VII, in Bulletin Italien,
xviii. 111-13.)

1 John xiv. 27 ; cf. Conv. ii. 15, 11. 171-2 ; in view of these
references, iestor here may perhaps be taken, not in the more usual
sense of bearing witness, but in that of making a bequest — 'by
the bequest of the boundless love'.

2 The life of this world ; cf. Job vii. 1 : ' militia est vita hominis
super terram ' (a passage to which a different sense is given
in A.V.).

8 As members of the Church triumphant, as opposed to the

Church militant ; cf. Par. xxx. 98 : '1' alto trionfo del regno verace \

4 The devil ; cf. 1 Pet. v. 8 : ' adversarius vester diabolus ', whence

EPISTOLA VII 89

nonnullos exheredando volentes ob tutoris T absentiam

10 nos a alios impie b denudavit c invitos. Hinc diu super d

flumina confusionis 2 deflevimus, et patrocinia iusti

regis 3 incessanter 6 implorabamus f , qui^ satellitium

saevi tyranni 4 disperderet, et nos in nostra iustitia 10

15 reformaret. Quumque tu, Caesaris et Augusti successor,

Apennini iuga transiliens, veneranda signa Tarpeia h 5

retulisti, protinus longa substiterunt suspiria, lacryma-

rumque diluvia ! desierunt ; et, ceu Titan praeoptatus j

20 exoriens, 6 nova spes Latio saeculi melioris effulsit. Tunc 15

a V. non b V. impios ; 0. impius ; P. 2 crudelmente c P. 1 clenudare
d M. semper e V. incensanter f M. imploravimus g M. et qui
h M. turpia l M. diluuie j M. precipitatus ; O. peroptatus ; P. 2

innanci desiato

the use of the term ' adversary ' in English (as in Par. Lost, ii. 629),
and 'aversier' in Old French, for the devil (cf. Purg. viii. 95) ; also
Mon. ii. 10, 11. 77-8 : ' ille antiquus hostis, qui litigii fuerat persuasor '.
For the envy of the devil, cf. Wisdom ii. 24 : ' Invidia diaboli mors
introivit in orbem terrarum'.

1 The Emperor ; cf. 'tutori ', of the Kings of Rome, Conv. iv. 5, 1. 92.

2 Dante, adopting the interpretation of ' Babylon ' as \ confusion '
(like that of 'Babel'; cf. V. E. i. 6, 1. 52; 7, 1. 30), thus renders
' super flumina Babylonis ' of Psalm cxxxvi. 1 ; cf. 1. 189, below.

3 Cf- Prov. xxix. 4 : ' Rex iustus erigit terram '.

4 Cf. 1. 77 : ' Tuscana tyrannis ', meaning especially the rebellious
Guelfs of Florence. Dino Compagni refers to the Guelfs in similar
language ; speaking of the advent of the Emperor into Italy he
says : ' Iddio onnipotente, il quale e guardia e guida de' principi,
volle la sua venuta fusse per abattere e gastigare i tiranni che erano
per Lombardia e per Toscana, fino a tanto che ogni tirannia fusse
spenta' (iii. 24).

6 Roman (cf. Purg. ix. 137 ; Mon. ii. 4, 1. 53), hence Imperial,
standard, the eagle ; cf. Epist. vi. 81 ; and Par. xix. 101-2 : ' il segno
Che fe' i Romani al mondo reverendi \

6 The advent of the Emperor is likened to the rising of the sun,
as in Epist. v. 10 : 'Titan exorietur pacificus'.

90 LETTERS OF DANTE

plerique vota sua praevenientes in iubilo, tam Saturnia
regna quam Virginem redeuntem 1 cum Marone 2 can-
tabant.

25 § 2. Verum quia sol noster (sive desiderii fervor hoc
submoneat, a sive facies veritatis) aut morari iam creditur, 20
aut retrocedere supputatur, quasi Iosue 3 denuo, vel Amos

30 filius 4 imperaret, incertitudine b dubitare compellimur,
et in vocem Praecursoris 5 irrumpere, sic ' Tu es qui ven-
turus es, an alium expectamus ? ' 6 Et quamvis longa
sitis in dubium quae sunt certa propter esse propinqua, 25

35 ut adsolet, furibunda deflectat ; nihilominus in te credi-
mus et speramus, asseverantes te Dei c ministrum, et
Ecclesiae filium, et Romanae gloriae promotorem. Nam
et ego, qui scribo tam pro me quam pro aliis, velut d

40 decet imperatoriam maiestatem, benignissimum vidi et 30
clementissimum te audivi, quum pedes tuos manus meae
tractarunt, et labia mea debitum persolverunt. 7 Tunc e

45 exultavit in me f spiritus meus, 8 quum « tacitus dixi

a M. submoueat ; P. 2 ammonisca b V. in certitudine ; P. 2 ne la certecca
c V. omits Dei d M. uel e P. J M. cum ; P. 2 quando f 0. te

s O. et ; P. 2 quando

1 Virgil, Ecl. iv. 6 ; cf. Mon. i. 11, 11. 3-10 ; Purg. xxii. 70-2.

2 This, the only instance of the use of the name Maro for Virgil
by Dante, may doubtless be accounted for by the requirements of the
cursus — '(cum Mar)6ne cantabant' (jplanus).

3 Josh. x. 12-13.

* That is, Isaiah (2 Kings xx. 1) ; the reference is to 2 Kings xx. 11.
6 John the Baptist ; cf. V. N. § 24, 11. 36-7 : < quel Giovanni,
lo quale precedette la verace luce \

6 Matt. xi. 3 ; Luke vii. 19.

7 Dante probably paid homage to the Emperor on the occasion of
his coronation with the iron crown at Milan on Jan. 6, 1311.

8 Luke i. 47.

EPISTOLA VII 91

mecum : ' Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit a peccata
mundi ! ' * 35

§ 3. Sed quid tam sera moretur segnities 2 admiramur ;
quando b iamdudum in valle victor Eridani, 3 non secus

50 Tusciam derelinquis, praetermittis et negligis, quam si
iura c tutanda d imperii circumscribi Ligurum e finibus
arbitreris ; non prorsus (ut suspicamur) advertens f , 40
quoniam Romanorum gloriosa^ potestas nec metis

55 Italiae, nec tricornis h Europae 4 margine coarctatur.
Nam etsi vim passa 5 in l angustum j gubernacula sua
contraxerit k , undique ! tamen de inviolabili iure fluctus

a P. 1 tollis ; 0. abstulit ; P. 2 tolle b 0. quoniam c P. 1 vita

d M. tuendi e P. 1 ligineranj ; P. 2 Lombarclia f P. aduerteris

g O. omits gloriosa h M. iricornis l V. non •* P.^V.M. Augustum ;
P.' 2 strectecca k M. contraxit x 0. contraxerit undique,

1 John i. 29 ; cf. Par. xvii. 33.

2 Aen. ii. 373-4.

3 The Emperor had reached Turin on Oct. 30, 1310 ; after holding
court at Asti from Nov. 10 to Dec. 12, he advanced to Milan —
'venne giii, discendendo di terra in terra, mettendo pace come
fusse uno agnolo di Dio, ricevendo la fedelta fino presso a Milano ',
says Dino Compagni (iii. 24) ; he entered the city on Dec. 23,
where, says Dino, ' la sua vita non era ne in sonare, ne in uccellare,
ne in sollazzi, ma in continui consigli, e a pacificare i discordanti
e assettare i vicari per le terre ' (iii. 26).

4 The old geographers represented Europe as a rough triangle,
of which the apex was formed by the bend of the Tanais (Don),
and the other two angles by the Columns of Hercules and the
British Isles. Dante's immediate authority was probably Albertus
Magnus, who in his De Natura Locorum (iii. 7) says : ' Europa . . .
habet figuram trigoni circumfusam mari oceano, quantum ad
nostram habitabilem. Trigonus autem ex arcubus et non lineis
rectis componitur, licet acies angulorum non cadant omnino in
acumen ' (see my article Some Unacknowledged Obligations of Dante to
Albertus Magmis, in Eomania, xxiv. 411-12 ; and Moore, Studies in
Dante, iii. 125-6).

5 A reminiscence of Matt. xi. 12 : ' regnum coelorum vim patitur '.

92 LETTERS OF DANTE

Amphitritis x attingens % vix ab inutili 2 unda Oceani se 45
00 circumcingi 3 dignatur. Scriptum etenim nobis est b :

' Nascetur pulcra Troianus origine Caesar,
Imperium c Oceano, famam qui terminet astris.' 4

65 Et quum universaliter orbem describi edixisset Augustus
(ut bos noster evangelizans, 5 accensus ignis aeterni d 50
flamma, remugit e ), 6 si non de iustissimi principatus 7
aula prodiisset f edictum, Unigenitus Dei Filius, 8 homo

TO factus 8 ad profitendum h 9 secundum naturam assumptam
edicto l se subditum, nequaquam j tunc nasci de Virgine

a V. attigens b V. etenim uobis est ; M. est enim nobis c P. 1

Imperij d M. omits aeterni e P. 1 remigit f P. 1 prodisset

g M. factus qui h M. proflcendum l M. edicit j 0. nunguam ;

1 In the Quaestio (§ 15, 1. 6). Dante uses this term to distinguish
the circumambient ocean from inland seas ('maria mediterranea'),
doubtless in accordance with the mediaeval etymology, as given
by Evrard de Bethune in the Graecismus : ' quia terram circuit
omnem ' ; and by Giovanni da Genova in the Catholicon : ' ab amphi
quod est circum, et tero, teris, dicitur hic amphitrites, -tis, idest mare,
a circumterendo litus sic dictus'.

2 ' Ineffectual ' ; the implication apparently being, as Pistelli
notes, that the ocean would be powerless to check the expansion
of the limits of the Empire.

3 Cf. Mon. i. 11, 11. 83-4 : ' Monarchae iurisdictio terminatur
Oceano solum ' ; and Epist. viii. 182-4 : ' palaestra . . . undique ab
Oceani margine circumspecta \

4 Aen. i. 286-7.

5 St. Luke, who is symbolized by an ox according to the accepted
interpretation of Ezek. i. 10 ; Rev. iv. 7.

6 Luke ii. 1.

7 Cf. Purg. x. 74 : ' il Roman principato ' ; Epist. vii* : ' Romanus
Principatus ' ; Epist. x tit. : l Caesareus Principatus ' ; and see
Moore, Studies in Bante, iv. 274.

8 John iii. 16, 18.

9 Luke ii. 3, 5.

EPISTOLA VII 93

voluisset. 1 Non enim suasisset iniustum, a 2 quem omnem 55

iustitiam implere decebat. b 3
75 § 4. Pudeat itaque in angustissima c mundi area irre-

tiri d tam diu, e quem mundus omnis expectat ; et ab

Augusti f circumspectione non defluat, 4 quod Tuscana

tyrannis 5 in dilationis fiducia confortatur, et g quotidie 60
80 malignantium 6 cohortando h superbiam, vires novas

accumulat, temeritatem temeritati adiciens. Intonet

iterum * vox J " illa Curionis 7 in Caesarem :

6 Dum trepidant nullo firmatae k robore partes,
Tolle moras ; semper nocuit * differre paratis 8 : 65
85 Par labor atque metus m pretio maiore petuntur.' 9

a P. 1 in iustum b M. qui omnem iustitiam implere debebat; P. 2 al

quale si conuenea adempiere ogni giusiizia c M. angusta ; P. 2 strettissima
d M. metiri e 0. tamdiu f M. Augusta B M. ut h P. 1

coartando ; M. cohartando ; P. 2 confortando l M. igitur ; P. 2 uri altra
uolta j M. uos k M. firmari ' M. nocuit semper m M. metas

1 This argument, which is also used in the De Monarchia (ii. 12,
11. 41-7), was borrowed by Dante from Orosius (vi. 22, §§6, 7).
(See my Lante Studies and Researches. pp. 133-4.)

2 Cf. Mon. ii. 12, 11. 41-71. 3 Matt. iii. 15.

4 Cf. the similar phrase in Epist. iii (iv). 55-6 : • de memoria tua
non defluat \ 5 See note on 1. 13.

6 A word of frequent occurrence in the Vulgate version of the
Psalms (e.g. xxi. 17 ; xxv. 5; xxxvi. 1 ; lxiii. 3 ; xci. 12 ; xciii. 16).

7 Caius Scribonius Curio, tribune of the plebs, 50 b. c. ; according
to Lucan (Phars. i. 269 ff.), whose account Dante follows here and
in Inf. xxviii. 97-102 (where Curio figures in Bolgia 9 of Circle viii
of Hell among the sowers of discord), it was he who urged Caesar
to advance on Rome after crossing the Rubicon.

8 Cf. Inf. xxviii. 98-9 : ' il fornito Sempre con danno Y attender
sofferse '.

9 Lucan, Phars. i. 280-2. The precise meaning of the last line
is disputed ; but Dante probably understood it to signify, and
intended to convey by including it in the quotation, that delay
would only involve greater toil and risk.

94 LETTERS OF DANTE

Intonet illa vox increpitantis Anubis a * iterum b in
Aeneam :

' Si te nulla movet tantarum gloria rerum,
Nec super ipse tua moliris c laude laborem ; 70

90 Ascanium surgentem et spes heredis Iuli

Respice ; cui regnum d Italiae Romanaque tellus 6
Debentur.' 2

§ 5. Iohannes namque, regius primogenitus tuus et
95 rex, 3 quem, post diei orientis occasum, mundi successiva 75
posteritas f praestolatur g 4 , nobis est alter Ascanius, qui

a P. 1 0. a nubibus ; V. a nubis ; M. Annubis ; P. 2 del cielo b M.

omits iterum c V. molitis d V. regimen e V.M. regna ; P. v i

regni f M. prosteritas g M. prestoletur

1 Egyptian god identified by the Romans with Mercury, who is
the personage quoted as addressing Aeneas in the text. This
identification was currently known and accepted in the Middle
Ages. Dante's authority was probably either Servius on Aen.
viii. 698 : ' Latrator Anubis, quia capite canino pingitur ; hunc
volunt esse Mercurium, ideo quia nihil est cane sagacius'; or
Uguccione da Pisa, who in his Magnae Berivationes (a work well
known to Dante) says : ' Anubis. Nubes componitur cum a, quod
est sine ; et dicitur hic anubis, id est mercurius, quasi sine nube ; est
enim deus sermonis quia omnia revelat '. There can be no doubt
as to the correctness of the reading Anubis as against the a nubibus
of P. 1 and 0. (See my article 'Anubis ' or 'a nubibus ' in Danie's letter
to Henry VII, in Bulletin Italien, xii. 1-5.) 2 Aen. iv. 272-6.

3 John of Luxemburg (born 1295), at this time in his sixteenth
year, was King of Bohemia (1310) in right of his marriage with
Elizabeth, daughter of Wenceslas IV (Vill. ix. 1). He had been
crowned at Prague in the previous February. Having lost both
his eyes he was subsequently known as the 'Blind King of
Bohemia '. He was killed at the battle of Crecy in 1346. Accord-
ing to the (unauthenticated) tradition, the badge of three ostrich
feathers, with the motto Ich dien, borne by the Prince of Wales,
originally belonged to King John, and was assumed by the Black
Prince after the king's death at Crecy.

4 He never succeeded to the Empire.

EPISTOLA VII 95

vestigia a magni genitoris observans, in Turnos * ubique

100 sicut leo desaeviet, et in Latinos b velut agnus c mitescet.
Praecaveant sacratissimi regis alta consilia, ne coeleste
iudicium Samuelis illa verba reasperet : ' Nonne quum 80
parvulus esses d in oculis tuis, caput in tribubus e Israel

105 factus es ? Unxitque te f Dominus g in regem super
Israel h ; et misit te Dominus * in viam J ', et ait : Vade et
interfice peccatores Amalech ? ' 2 Nam et tu in regem
sacratus es, ut Amalech percutias k et l Agag non par- 85

1 10 cas m ; atque ulciscaris illum qui misit te, de gente n
brutali et de festina sua sollemnitate (quae quidem et
Amalech et Agag sonare dicuntur). 3

§ 6. Tu Mediolani tam vernando quam hiemando

115moraris 4 et hydram pestiferam per capitum amputa- 90
tionem reris ° extinguere ? Quod p si magnalia 5 gloriosi* 1
Alcidae recensuisses, te ut illum falli cognosceres r , cui

a P. 1 uestigiam b M. latino c M. agnos d V. esset e M. tribus
f M. omits ie s M. deus b P.^M.P. 2 omit super Israel l V.M.O.
Deus ; P. 2 omits j V.O. via k V. percuciens ' V. ut m M.
parcas minime ; P. 2 non perdonare n M. de gente in gentem ° P. 1
veris p V. quia q M. gloriose r M. cognosceris

1 That is, the Rutulians, whose king Turnus fought against
Aeneas, and who ihus typify the opponents of the Empire, while
the followers of Latinus, the father-in-law of Aeneas, typify its
supporters. 2 1 Sam. xv. 17-18.

3 Dante doubtless derived these interpretations from the Ex-
planatio Nominum which accompanies many MSS. of the Vulgate,
in which * Amalech ' is explained as • gens brutalis ', and ' Agag '
as ' festina solempnitas '.

4 The Emperor had been in Milan since the previous Dec. 23 ;
he left two days after the date of this letter (see Chronological
Table).

5 Cf. V. E. ii. 2, 1. 73 ; Epist. x. 13 ; the word occurs frequently in
the Vulgate (e. g. 2 Sam. vii. 21, 23 ; 2 Kings viii. 4 ; Psalm Ixx. 19;
cv. 21).

96 LETTERS OF DANTE

pestilens animal, capite repullulante a multiplici, per b

120 damnum crescebat, 1 donec instanter magnanimus c vitae

principium impetivit/ 1 2 Non etenim e ad arbores extir- 95

pandas valet ipsa ratnorum f incisio, quin iterum multi-

plicius virulente« ramificent h , quousque radices incolumes

125 fuerint, ut praebeant alimentum. Quid 1 , praeses j unice

mundi, 3 peregisse praeconicis k ,quum cervicem Cremonae 4

deflexeris contumacis ? Nonne tunc * vel m Brixiae 5 vel 100

Papiae 6 rabies inopina turgescet ? 7 Immo ! Quae

130 quum etiam flagellata 11 resederit, 7 mox alia Vercellis, 8

vel Pergami, 9 vel alibi returgebit, donec huiusmodi °

a M. repupulare b 0. in; P. 2 per c M. magnanimis d O.

impedivit; F. u taglib e M. enim f M. Romanorum g V.O. virulenier;
M. uia terre ; P.* uergeando n M. ramescent l M. qui j M. prees
k P. 1 preconijcis ; V. preconiis ; 0. praeconizabis ; P. 2 anuntlarae x M.
nonne ut tuo m M. vel iu n M. flagellum ° V.O. huius

1 Ovid, Metam. ix. 70-4. For every head of the hydra cut off,
two new ones sprang up.

2 By applying fire to the root of the neck whence the heads
sprang.

3 See note on the title of this letter (p. 87, n. 2).

4 Cremona, incited by Florence, had rebelled against the Emperor
in the previous February. Henry marched against the rebellious
city, entered it, and imprisoned the rebels in the following May.

5 Brescia followed the example of Cremona in March ; after
a long siege (May 19 to Sept. 19) it surrendered to the Emperor,
who entered the city and razed the fortifications.

6 The Emperor left Brescia on Oct. 2, and proceeded to Pavia,
which he pacified on his way to Genoa (Dino Compagni, iii. 30),
where he arrived on Oct. 21.

7 Giuliani suggests that this metaphor is borrowed from Virgil,
Georg. ii. 479-80 ; he compares Inf. xxi. 21.

8 Vercelli, about 40 miles SW. of Milan, at the W. extremity of
the old Lombardy, which Dante describes as ' lo dolce piano Che
da Vercelli a Marcabo dichina ' (Inf. xxviii. 74-5).

9 Bergamo, about 30 miles NE. of Milan.

EPISTOLA VII 97

scatescentiae causa radicalis a tollatur, et b radice c tanti
erroris avulsa d , cum trunco rami pungitivi e arescant. 105

135 § 7. An ignoras, eXcellentissime f principum g , nec de
specula h summae celsitudinis x deprehendis, ubi vulpecula
foetoris istius, venantium secura, recumbat ! ? Quippe

140 nec Pado praecipiti, 2 necTiberi tuo criminosa potatur j ,
verum Sarni 3 fluenta torrentis adhuc rictus k eius inficiunt, 110
et Florentia l (forte nescis ?) dira haec pernicies nuncu-
patur. Haec est vipera versa in viscera genitricis ; haec m

145 languida pecus, quae n gregem domini sui sua contagione
commaculat ° ; haec Myrrha scelestis p et impia, in Ciny-
rae patris q amplexus exaestuans 4 ; haec Amata illa 115
impatiens, quae, repulso fatali cpnnubio, quem fata r

150 negabant generum sibi adscire non timuit, sed in bella
furialiter provocavit, s et demum, male ausa 5 luendo,

* M. rabies; P. 2 radicevole b M. omits et c P. 1 radix d P. 1
evulsa e M.pugitiui f M. exceUeniiue 8 M. principium

n M. speculo ' V.O. decumbat ; P." serraguacta j M. potant

k P. 1 ritus ; P. 2 custumi x M. Florentiam m V.O. haec est n V.O.
omit quae ° V.O. commaculans p 0. scelesta q P. 1 in amore

patris ; V. in Cinare patris ; M. in Cinere posita ; P. 2 nello amore del padre
r M. semper s P. X M. furialiter in bella vocavit

1 Dante is here probably playing upon the use of the term
' Cclsitudo ' as a title of respect ; cf. ' regia Celsitudo ' applied to
the Empress in the second and third Battifolle letters (Epist. vii**,
vii***) ; and see the other instances quoted on p. 114, n. 2.

2 Cf. Virgil, Georg. iv. 372-3.

3 See note on Epist. iv (iii). 13.

4 Myrrha, daughter of Cinyras, King of Cyprus, being seized
with a fatal passion for her father, contrived to introduce herself
into his chamber in disguise during the absence of her mother
(hence Dante places her among the Falsifiers in Bolgia 10 of
Circle viii of Hell, Inf. xxx. 25-41). Dante got her story from
Ovid, Metam. x. 293 fl\, whose expression 'patriisque in vultibus
haerens Aestuat ' (vv. 359-60) he here echoes.

5 Cf. Epist. vi. 56.

98 LETTERS OF DANTE

laqueo se suspendit. 1 Vere matrem viperea feritate

155 dilaniare contendit, a dum contra Romam cornua rebel- 120

lionis exacuit, 2 quae ad imaginem suam atque similitu-

dinem fecit illam. 3 Vere fumos b , evaporante c sanie,

a M. omits luendo — contendit b M. fumo c M. euaporantes

1 Amata, wife of Latinus, King of Latium, and mother of
Lavinia, hanged herself rather than live to see her daughter
wedded to Aeneas instead of to Turnus, King of the Rutulians, the
son-in-law she desired ('quem fata negabant generum'), to whom
Lavinia had been promised by Latinus (Aen. xii. 593-607). Turnus,
who to enforce his claim made war upon Aeneas, is probably
meant here, as the opponent of Aeneas, the representative of the
Empire, to typify King Robert of Naples, the head of the Guelfs
who were opposing the Emperor. The phrase ' laqueo se suspendit '
is, as Pistelli points out, a reminiscence of the Vulgate account of
the suicide of Judas (Matt. xxvii. 5). Amata figures among the
examples of wrath in Circle iii of Purgatory (Purg. xvii. 34-9).

2 There can hardly be a doubt that in using this phrase Dante
had in mind the reply of the Florentines to the Emperor's ambas-
sador in the previous year, which is recorded by Dino Compagni :
1 M. Luigi di Savoia, mandato imbasciadore in Toscana dallo
Imperadore, venne a Firenze ; e fu poco onorato da' nobili cittadini,
e feciono il contrario di quello doveano. Domando, che imbasciadore
si mandassi a onorarlo e ubidirli come a loro signore : fu loro risposto
per parte della Signoria da m. Betto Brunelleschi, che mai per niuno
signore i Fiorentini inchinarono le corna'' (iii. 35). That Dante was
acquainted with the terms of this insolent reply we know from
Flavio Biondo, who in his Historiarum ab inclinato Romano Imperio
Decades mentions that he had seen the copy of a letter written by
Dante from Forli at the time to Can Grande della Scala, in which
he gave an account of the incident (see Introduction) .

3 Gen. i. 26. Florence, according to tradition, was founded by
the Romans (Villani, i. 38) ; and after its (legendary) destruction
by Totila was rebuilt by the Romans on the model of Rome (Vill.
iii. 2 : ' La citta nuova di Firenze si comincio a redificare per gli
Romani . . . di piccolo sito e giro, figurandola al modo di Roma,
secondo la piccola impresa'). Cf. Conv. i. 3, 11. 21-2 : ' la bellissima
e famosissima figlia di Roma, Fiorenza ' ; and Inf. xv. 76-8.

KPISTOLA VII 99

vitiantes exhalat, et inde vicinae a pecudes et insciae b

160 contabescunt, dum, falsis illiciendo c blanditiis et figmen-
tis d , aggregat sibi finitimos, et infatuat e aggregatos. 125
Vere in paternos ardet f ipsa concubitus, dum improba
procacitate 8 conatur summi pontificis, hl qui pater est

165 patrum, adversum 1 te violare assensum j . Vere Dei
ordinationi resistit, k 2 propriae voluntatis l idolum vene-
rando m , dum, regem n aspernata legitimum, non erubescit 130
insana ° regi non suo 3 iura non sua pro male agendi p

170 potestate pacisci. Sed attendat q ad laqueum 4 mulier
furiata quo se innectit r . Nam saepe quis in reprobum
sensum traditur, ut traditus faciat ea quae non s con-

175 veniunt. 5 Quae quamvis iniusta * sint opera, iusta tamen 135
supplicia esse noscuntur. 6

§ 8. Eia itaque, rumpe moras, 7 proles altera u Isai, 8

a M. uicinie b M. uiscie ; P. 2 non sapeuoli c M. aliciendo; 0.
alliciendo d V '. figimentis e F. 1 infatuant; M.insinuat; F. 2 fa

impacire f M. omits ardet g P. 1 pro capaciiate ; P. 8 con maluagio
uageiamento h M. summum pontificem ' 0. adversus J M. ascensum
k M. restitit l M. uoluntati m M. uerenando n P. 1 regem suum
° O. erubescit ; insana p V.O. agenda; M. agende q M. accendit;
0. attendit ; P. 2 adrende r O. innectat ; P. 2 si lega s M. etiam

* V. iusta ; P. 2 non iuste u M.O.^0. 3 alta ; P. 2 secondo

1 Clement V, to whom Henry owed his election as Emperor, and
by whom he was as yet supported.

2 Rom. xiii. 2 ; cf. Epist. v. 64-5.

3 King Robert of Naples, who was acting with Florence and the
Guelfic league in opposition to the Emperor.

4 Cf. Epist. viii. 60-1 : ' attendatis ad funiculum, attendatis ad
ignem '.

5 Rom. i. 28.

6 The suicide of Amata was an act without justification, save as
a just judgement upon her.

7 Aen. iv. 569.

8 Cf. 1. 96: 'alter Ascanius 1 ; Epist. v. 19: 'alius Moyses' ;
Epist. vi. 50 : • alteri Babylonii \

h2

100 LETTERS OF DANTE

sume tibi fiduciam de oculis Domini Dei Sabaoth, 1 coram
quo agis ; et Goliam 2 hunc in funda sapientiae tuae a

180 atque b in lapide c virium tuarum prosterne 3 ; quoniam 140
in eius occasu nox d et umbra timoris castra Philistinorum
operiet ; fugient Philistaei et liberabitur Israel. Tunc

185 hereditas nostra, 4 quam sine intermissione deflemus abla-
tam, 5 nobis erit in integrum restituta. At e quemad-
modum f sacrosanctae Ierusalem memores, exules in 145
Babylone, gemiscimus 6 ; ita tunc cives, et respirantes in

190 pace, confusionis 7 miserias g in gaudio recolemus h .

Scriptum in Tuscia sub fonte * Sarni 8 xv j Kalendas k
Maias, divi Henrici faustissimi l cursus ad Italiam anno
primo. 9 150

Translation

To the most glorious and most fortunate Conqueror, and sole
Lord, the Lord Henry, by Divine Providence King of the
Bomans, and ever Augustus, his most devoted servants,
Dante Alighieri, a Florentine undeservedly in exile, and all
the Tuscans everyivhere who desire peace, offer a kiss on the
ground oefore hisfeet.

§ 1. As the boundless love of God bears witness, the

a M. sue b P. 1 at c P. 1 lapidem d P. 1 vox ; M. nos e O. Ac ;
P. 2 Et f M. quidem ad modum g M. miserius h M. reuelemur ;
P. 2 releueremo ' O.fontem ; V. omits the colophon j P. 1 xv a ;

M. xv° ; 0. xiv ; P. 2 a die xvi daprile k O. Kal. ' P. 1 diuj

faustissimj Herricj

1 Jerem. xi. 20 ; Rom. ix. 29 (cf. Isaiah i. 9, where the Vulgate
renders ' Dominus exercituum').

2 Typifying Florence, as the head of the Guelfic league ; or, as
some think, King Robert of Naples, the ' rex non suus ' of 1. 168,
their ally and chief.

s 1 Sam. xvii. 49-50. 4 The heritage of peace (cf. 1. 2).

5 Cf. Lament. v. 2. 6 Psalm cxxxvi. 1 ff.

7 Cf. 1. 10, and note. 8 See note on Epist. iv (iii). 13.

9 Cf. the colophons of Epist. vi (where see note) and Epist. vii***.

EPISTOLA VII 101

heritage of peace was left to us, that in its wondrous
sweetness the hardships of our warfare might be softened,
and that by its practice we might earn the joys of the
triumphant Fatherland. But the envy of the ancient and
implacable enemy, who ever secretly plots against the
prosperity of mankind, having dispossessed some of their
own free will, has, owing to the absence of our guardian,
impiously stripped us others against our will. Wherefore
we have long wept by the waters of Oonfusion, and un-
ceasingly prayed for the protection of the just king, who
should destroy the satellites of the cruel tyrant, and
should stablish us again under our own justice. But when
thou, the successor of Caesar and of Augustus, o'erleaping
the ridge of the Apennines, didst bring back the venera-
ted Tarpeian standards, forthwith our deep sighing was
stayed, and the flood of our tears was dried up ; and like the
rising of the long-awaited Sun, a new hope of a better age
shone abroad upon Italy. Then many, going before their
wishes in their joy, sang with Maro of the reign of Saturn,
and of the return of the Virgin.

§ 2. But because our Sun (whether it be the fervour of
our longing, or the appearance of truth w^iich suggests it) is
believed to be tarrying, or is suspected to be turning back,
as though at the bidding once again of Joshua or of the son
of Amoz, we are constrained in our uncertainty to doubt,
and to break forth in the words of the Forerunner : ' Art
thou he that should come ? or look we for another ?S( And
though prolonged desire, as is its wont, turns into doubt in
its frenzy things which owing to their being close at hand
seem tobe certain, nevertheless we believe and hope in thee,
declaring thee to be the minister of God, the son of the
Church, and the furtherer of the glory of Eome.X For I too,
who write as well for myself as for others, beheld thee most
gracious,and heard thee most clement, as beseems Imperial
Majesty, when my hands touched thy feet, and my lips
paid their tribute. Then my spirit rejoiced within me,
when I said secretly within myself : ' Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sins of the* world '.

§ 3. But we marvel what sluggishness holds thee so

102 LETTERS OF DANTE

long, in that, long since victor in the valley of Po, thou
dost abandon, pass by, and neglect Tuscany, not otherwise
than as if thou didst suppose the imperial rights entrusted
to thy guardianship to be limited by the boundaries of
Liguria ; forgetting in sooth, as we apprehend, that the
glorious dominion of the Komans is confined neither by
the frontiers of Italy, nor by the coast-line of three-
cornered Europe. For although it has been constrained
by violence to narrow the bounds of its government, yet
by indefeasible right it everywhere stretches as far as the
waves of Amphitrite, and scarce deigns to be circum-
scribed by the ineffectual waters of Ocean. For it is
written for our behoof : 'From the fair line of Troy a
Caesar shall be born, who shall bound his empire by the
ocean, his glory by the stars'. And when Augustus
decreed that all the world should be taxed ' (as the lowing
of our Evangelic Ox, aglow with the flame of the eternal
fire, records), if the decree had not issued from the court of
a most just prince, in vain would the only-begotten Son
of God, made man, in order to the declaring 2 himself sub-
ject to the edict, in accordance with the nature he had
assumed, have willed to be born of the Virgin at that time.
For He, whom it behoved to fulfil all righteousness, would
not have counselled an unrighteous act.

§ 4. Let him, then, for whom the whole world is look-
ing, be ashamed to be entangled so long in such a narrow
cornerof the world !; andlet it not escape the consideration of
Augustus that the tyrant of Tuscany is encouraged by the
assurance that he is delaying, and daily by appealing to the
pride of the evil-doers gathers fresh strength, heaping
daring upon daring. Let the voice of Curio to Caesar be
heard once again : ' While the factions are in confusion
and without support, away with delay ! delay was ever the
bane of the ready — equal toil and fear are more dearly
bought'. Once again let the voice of Mercury chiding
Aeneas be heard : * If the glory of such mighty deeds leave
thee unmoved, and thou wilt not exert thyself for thine

1 ' Describi' — so A.V. renders describeretur in Luke ii. 1.

2 ' Profitendum ' ; of. tlie use of ' profiteri ' in Luke ii. 3, 5.

EPISTOLA VII 103

own fame's sake, yet consider the young Ascanius, Iulus
thine hope and heir, to whom are due the kingdom of
Italy and the land of the Komans \

§ 5. For John, thy royal first-born, the king, whom,
after the setting of the day which is now rising, the
succeeding generation of the world awaits as their ruler,
is to us as a second Ascanius, who, following in the foot-
steps of his great sire, shall rage like a lion against the
followers of Turnus wheresoever they be, and towards the
followers of Latinus shall be as gentle as a lamb. Let
the lofty counsels of the most sacred king take heed lest
the judgement from on high renew the bitter words of
Samuel : ' When thou wast iittle in thine own sight, wast
thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel ? and the
Lord anointed thee king overlsrael. And theLord sent thee
on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners
the Amalekites.' For thou likewise hast been anointed
king that thou mayest smite Amalek, and not spare Agag ;
and mayest avenge him that sent thee on 'the brutal
people', and their 4 over-hasty rejoicing' (which things
verily ' Amalek ' and ' Agag ' are said to signify).

§ 6. Through the spring as through the winter dost thou
linger at Milan, thinking to extirpate the pestiferous hydrn
by cutting off its heads ? But, if thou hadst turned thy
thoughts back to the mighty deeds of glorious Alcides,
thou wouldst perceive that thou, like him, art deceiving
thyself ; for the noisome beast, as its ever-multiplying
heads sprouted again, grew stronger through the loss,
until the hero ingood earnest attacked the seat of life
itself. For to destroy a tree the mere lopping of branches
is of no avail — nay, the noxious growth will but come
again the more thickly, so long as the roots are uninjured
and can supply nourishment. What dost thou, the sole
ruler of the world, imagine thou wilt have accomplished
when thou hast set thy foot upon the neck of rebellious
Cremona? Will not some unlooked-for madness next
break out at Brescia or at Pavia ? Yea, and when this has
been chastised and has subsided, presently another will
break out at Vercelli, or at Bergamo, or elsewhere, until the

104 LETTERS OF DANTE

root cause of this exuberance be removed, and, the root of
all the mischief being plucked up, the spiny branches
shall wither together with the trunk.

§ 7. Dost thou not know, most excellent Prince, and
canst thou not descry from the watch-tower of thine
exalted Highness l where that stinking vixen has her lair,
undisturbed by the hunters ? Verily the culprit drinks .
neither of headlong Po, nor of thine own Tiber, but her
jaws pollute e'en now the rushing stream of Arno, and
Florence— canst thou be unaware r^-Florence is the name
of this baleful pest. She is the viper that turns against
the vitals of her own mother ; she is the sick sheep that
infects the flock of her lord with her contagion ; she is the
abandoned and unnatural Myrrha, inflamed with passion
for the embraces of her father Cinyras ; she is the
passionate Amata, who, rejecting the fated marriage, did
not shrink from claiming for herself a son-in-law whom
the fates denied her, but in her madness urged him to
battle, and at the last, in expiation for her evil designs,
hanged herself in the noose. Verily with the ferocity of
a viper she strives to rend her mother, when she sharpens
the horns of rebellion against Kome, which made her in
her own image and after her own likeness. Verily she
exhales pestilential fumes from the reek of corruption,
whence the neighbouring flocks all unknowing waste
away, when by the lure of lying blandishments and
deceit she wins over to herself those on her borders, and
having won them deprives them of their senses. Verily
she burns for the embraces of her own father, when she
wickedly and wantonly seeks to compass a breach between
thee and the supreme Pontiff, who is the father of fathers.
Verily she resists the ordinance of God, worshipping the
idol of her own will, when, spurning her rightful king,
she is not ashamed, mad as she is, to barter rights not her
own with a king not her own for the power to do evil.
But let the infuriate woman take heed to the noose
wherein she is entangling herself. For oft-times such an
one is ' given over to a reprobate mind ', to the end that

1 CeMtudo, see above, p. 97, n. 1.

EPISTOLA VII 105

when so given over he may ' do those things which are not
convenient'. For though the deeds be unjust, yet as
retribution they are seen to be just.

§ 8/Up then ! make an end of delay, thou new scion of
Jesse, and take confidence from the eyes of the Lord God
of Hosts, in whose sight thou strivest ; and overthrow this
Goliath with the sling of thy wisdom and with the stone
of thy strength ; for at his fall night and the shadow of
fear shall cover the camp of the Philistines — the Philistines
shall flee and Israel shall be delivered. Then our heritage
which was taken away, and for which we lament without
ceasing, shall be restored to us whole again^ But even as
now, remembering the most holy Jerusalem, we mourn
as exiles in Babylon, so then as citizens, and breathing in
peace, we shall think with joy on the miseries of Con-
fusion.

Written in Tuscany, from beneath the springs of Arno,
on the seventeenth day of April, in the first year of the
most auspicious passage of the holy Henry into Italy.

106

EPISTOLA VII*

(* Gratissima regiae Benignitatis epistola')

To the Empress Margaret
[April, 1311]

MSS. — This and the two following letters (the so-called
Battifolle letters), addressed to the Empress Margaret, wife of
the Emperor Henry VII, in the name of a Countess of Batti-
folle, have been preserved in one MS. only, namely the Vatican
MS. (Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729), in which they 6ccur third,
fourth, and fifth of the nine letters attributed to Dante in the
MS., 1 between the letter to the Florentines (Epist. vi) and that
to the Counts Oberto and Guido da Romena (Epist. ii).

Printed Texts. 2 — 1. Torri(1842) : Epist. ix (op.cit., p. 66).*
2. Giuliani (1882): Epist. ii* (op. cit, p. 70). 3. Passerini
(1910) : Epist. xii (op. cit, pp. 158-60). 4. Paget Toynbee
(1912) : (diplomatic transcript of the MS. text, together with
collations of the several printed editions of the letter, and a list
of proposed emendations in the printed texts) in Modem
Language Review (vol. vii, pp. 20-1). 5. Moore (1914) :
(modernized transcript of the preceding) in Modern Language
Review (vol. ix, % p. 175). 6. Moore (1917): (reprint of the
preceding) in Studies in Dante, iv (pp. 258-9). 7. Paget
Toynbee (1917) : (emended text) in Modern Language Review
(vol. xii, pp. 303-4). 8. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. xiii (op.
cit., pp. 272-4).

Translations. 2 — Italian. 1. Torri (1842) : op. cit, p. 67.
2. Passerini (1910) : op. cit., pp. 159-61.— Ge>man. Kannegiesser

1 See above, p. 1.

2 For titles of editions referred to here^as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

3 For some unexplained reason Torri, followed by Giuliani and
Passerini, departsfrom the MS. order of these three letters, placing
the last letter first, the second third, and the first second.

EPISTOLA VII* 107

(1845): op. cit., pp. 196-7.— English. Paget Toynbee (1917) : in
Modern Language Review, vol. xii, pp. 304-5 (see oelow, pp . 1 1 0-1 1 ).

Authenticity. — These three letters are not assigned to
Dante by name in the MS., but, as in the case of Epist. i, 1
from their position among acknowledged letters of Dante they
were evidently regarded by the original compiler of the
collection contained in the MS. (who is supposed to have been
Boccaccio) 2 as having been written by Dante. The question as
to their attribution to Dante was examined recently in great
detail by Dr. Moore in an article in the Modern Language
Review, 3 which was reprinted, with additions and corrections,
in the fourth volume of his Studies in Dante, 4 the conclusion
being strongly in favour of their Dantesque authorship. 5
Dante is known to have been in the Casentino, and in all
probability at the Castle of Poppi (whence the third letter is
dated) at about the time the letters were written. 6 The
Countess, in whose name they are written, being herself
incapable of composing a letter in Latin to the Empress
according to the recognized epistolary formulae (including the
observance of the cursus), Dante, in view of his relations with
the Emperor, 7 was the natural person to be employed as
secretary 8 for the purpose. The striking correspondence of

1 See above, p. 3. 2 See above, p. 3, n. 1.

3 Vol. ix, pp. 173-89. 4 Pp. 256-75, 287.

5 See also Zenatti, in Dante e Firenze, pp. 74 n., 370 ff., 395 ff. ;
Novati, in Dante e la Lunigiana, pp. 509, 537, 540, and the referenees
there given ; Mascetta-Caracci, in Dante e il * Dedalo ' Petrarchesco,
pp. 333-4 ; and Parodi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix. 11-15 ;
xxii. 271-2.

6 See the colophons of his letters to the Florentines (Epist. vi)
and to the Emperor (Epist. vii), and notes.

7 His letter to the Emperor was written (April 17, 1311) just
a month before the date (May 18) of the last of the three letters
to the Empress.

8 We know from Flavio Biondo that Dante had acted not long
before as secretary to Scarpetta Ordelaffi at Forli (sce Introcluctiori).

108 LETTERS OF DANTE

style, phraseology, and thoughts, and especially of indirect
Virgilian quotations and reminiscences imbedded in the letters,
with those of known works of Dante, 1 confirms the view that
Dante was the writer.

Date. — These three letters were probably all written in the
spring of 1311 — the first perhaps towards the end of April,
affcer the Emperor had set out from Milan (April 19) in order
to reduce Cremona and the other rebellious cities of Lombardy ;
the second at the end of April or beginning of May, during the
operations against Cremona ; and the third (dated May 18) after
the reduction of Cremona. 2

Summary— The Countess returns humble thanks for the
condescension of the Empress in writing to send news of the
well-being of the Emperor and of herself ; andprays that God
may grant success to the Emperor in his endeavours to restore
peace and order.

Gloriosissimae atque clementissimae Dominae, Dominae
Margaritae a ?> divina providentia Romanorum Reginae

MS. m Cocl. Vat-Palat. Lat. 1729
a MS. M.

1 The more striking of these coincidences and parallels, most
of which were pointed out by Zenatti and Dr. Moore, will be found
registered below in the notes to the several letters.

2 See Chronological Table.

3 In the MS. the name is not given at length, but only the
initial — see note on title of Epist. i ; the full name is given in the
title of the third letter, but this was perhaps due to the expansion
by a copyist. Margaret of Brabant, the daughter of John I, Duke
of Brabant, married Henry, Count of Luxemburg, afterwards
Emperor as Henry VII, in 1292 ; she accompanied the Emperor
on his progress into Italy, and died at Genoa on Dec. 14, 1311,
where she was buried. Villani says of her (ix. 28) : ' era tenuta
santa e buona donna ' ; and Dino Compagni (iii. 30) : ' la morte . . .
per volonta di Dio parti dal mondo la nobile Imperadrice, con
nobilisshna fama di gran santita di vita onesta. ministra de' poveri

EPISTOLA VII* 109

et semper Augustae^ G. de Battifolle a % Dei et adiu-
valis Magniffcentiae 3 gratia Comitissa in Tuscia
Palatinaf tam debitae quam devotae subiectionis offi-
cium 5 ante pedes. 6

Gratissima regiae Benignitatis epistola et meis oculis
visa laetanter et manibus fuit assumpta reverenter, 7 ut
decuit. Quumque significata per illam 8 mentis aciem
penetrando dulcescerent, adeo spiritus lectitantis b fervore
devotionisincaluit,ut numquam possint superareoblivia c , 5
nec memoria sine gaudio memorare. Nam quanta vel
qualis 9 ego ? Ad enarrandum mihi de sospitate consor-
tis et sua (utinam diuturna !) coniunx fortissima Caesaris

a MS. bat. b MS. letitaniis c MS. oblia

di Cristo. La quale fu sepellita con grande onore . . . nella Chiesa
maggiore di Genova \ Both Villani and Dino say that she died in
November, but see Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica, vol. ii,
p. 384, n. 26. She is said to have died of plague, contracted
during the siege of Brescia in the preceding summer (see Del
Lungo, loc. cit., n. 23). l See note on title of Epist. vii.

2 This lady has been identified con.jecturally with Gherardesca
di Donoratico, wife of Guido di Simone di Battifolle, of the Conti
Guidi (see Ricci, VTJltimo Rifugio di Dante, p. 17).

3 That is, the Emperor ; cf. the titles of Epist. vii**: ' Dei et
Imperii gratia largiente ' ; and Epist. vii*** : ' Dei et Imperialis
indulgentiae gratia '. For the use of ' Magnificentia ' as a title of
honour, see note on Epist. iv (iii). 6.

4 See note on Epist. ii. 33.

5 Cf. Epist. vi. 33-4 : ' debitae subiectionis ofiicium denegando ? ;
and Epist. v. 62-3 : ' Praeoccupetis faciem eius in confessione
subiectionis '. 6 Cf. Epist . vii tit. : l osculum ante pedes '.

7 Cf. Epist. ix. 1-2 : • In literis vestris, et reverentia debita et
aftectione receptis '.

8 Cf. Epist. ix. 7-8 : • ad illarum [literarum] significata re-
spondeo '.

9 Cf. Epist. i. 7 ; Epist. x. 584-5 ; and Par. ii. 65 ; viii. 46 ; xxiii. 92 ;
xxx. 120.

110 LETTERS OF DANTE

eondescendat ? Quippe tanti pondus honoris x neque a
merita gratulantis neque dignitas postulabat. Sed nec 10
etiam inclinari humanorum graduum b dedecuit apicem,
unde velut a vivo fonte sanctae civilitatis exempla debent
inferioribus emanare. Dignas itaque persolvere grates
non opis est hominis, 2 verum ab homine alienum esse non
reor pro insufficientiae supplemento Deum exorare quan- 15
doque. Nunc ideo regni siderii iustis precibus atque
piis aula pulsetur, et impetret supplicantis affectus qua-
tenus mundi Gubernator aeternus condescensui tanto
praemia coaequata retribuat, 2 et ad auspitia 3 Caesaris
et Augustae dexteram gratiae coadiutricis extendat, ut 20
qui Romani Principatus 4 imperio barbaras nationes et
cives in mortalium tutamenta subegit, 5 delirantis aevi 6
familiam sub triumphis et gloria sui Henrici 7 reformet 8
in melius.

Translation

To ' the most glorious and most clement Lady, the Lady
Margaret, oy Divine Providence Queen ofthe Bomans and
ever Augusta, G. d\Battifolle, by the grace of God and of
His allied Magnifcence Countess Palatine in Tuscany,
mdkes humble offermg of her dutiful and devoted sub-
mission.

The most welcome letter of your Royal Benignity was

a MS. atque b MS. humanomm in graduum

1 Cf. V. E. ii. 4, 1. 30 : • materiae pondus '.

2 Aen. i. 600-5 ; cf. Epist. i. 39-44 (and note) ; Epist. ii. 8 ; Par. iv.
121-3 (see Moore, Studies in Dante, iv. 270).

3 See note on Epist. iv (iii). 16.

4 See note on Epist. vii. 67. 5 Cf. Epist. vi. 1-8.

6 Cf. Epist. vi. 87 : ' delirantis Hesperiae domitorem '.

7 Cf. Epist vii tit. : ' Gloriosissimo et felicissimo triumphatori
. . . Henrico '. 8 Cf. Epist. vii. 14.

EPISTOLA VII* 111

beheld with joy by my eyes, and with becoming reverence
was received into my hands. And when the purport
thereof penetrated the recesses of my mind with its sweet-
ness, my heart as I read glowed with so great fervour of
devotion as oblivion can never extinguish, nor memory
recall without delight. For who and what am I, that the
most potent spouse of Caesar should condescend to inform
me as to the well-being (which long may it endure !) of
her Consort and of herself ? Verily the weight of so great
an honour neither the deserts nor the dignity of her who
greets you could look for. Yet was it not unseemly that the
pinnacle of the ranks of human society should thus incline
itself, since from hence, as from a living fountain, the
exemplars of sacred civilization must be transmitted to
those below. To return adequate thanks is beyond the
power of man, but I deem it to be not unnatural for man
sometimes to make prayer to God for help in his insuffi-
ciency. Now therefore let the court of the starry realm
be assailed with just and holy prayers, and may the zeal
of the suppliant obtain that the Eternal Ruler of the world
may recompense so great a condescension with propor-
tionate reward, and may stretch forth the right hand of
His grace in furtherance of the hopes of Caesar and of
Augusta ; to the end that He, who for the safeguard of man-
kind brought under the Empire of the Roman Prince all
peoples barbarian and civilized, may by the triumphs and
glory of His servant Henry regenerate the human family
of this crazy age.

112

EPISTOLA VII**

(' Regalis epistolae documenta ')

To the Empress Margaret

[April or May, 1311]

MSS.— This,the second of the three so-called Battifolle letters,
addressed to the Ernpress Margaret in the name of a Countess
of Battifolle, has, like the other two, been preserved in one MS.
only, the Vatican MS. (Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729)}

Printed Texts. 2 — 1. Torri (1842) : Epist. x (op. cit., p. 68). 3
2. Giuliani (1882): Epist. iii* (op. cit., p. 71). 3. Passerini
(1910) : Epist. xiii (op. cit., pp. 162-4). 4. Paget Toynbee (1912) :
(diplomatic transcript of the MS. text, together with collations
of the several printed editions of the letter, and a list of pro-
posed emendations in the printed texts) in Modem Language
RevLeiv (vol. vii, pp.21-3). 5. Moore (1914) : (modernized tran-
script of the preceding) in Modern Language Review (vol. ix,
pp. 175-6). 6. Moore (1917) : (reprint of the preceding) in
Studies in Dante, iv (p. 259). 7. Paget Toynbee (1917) :
(emended text) in Modern Language Review (vol. xii, pp. 305-6).
8. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. xiv (op. cit., pp. 274-5).

Translations. 2 — Italian. 1. Torri (1842) : op. cit., p. 69.
2. Passerini (1910) : op. cit., pp. 163-5. — German. Kannegiesser
(1845): op. cit., pp. 197-8.— English. Paget Toynbee (1917):
in Modern Language Review, vol. xii, pp. 306-7 (see below,
p. 115).

Authenticity. See introductory note to Epist. vii*.

Date. — This letter was probably written at the end of April
or beginning of May, 1311 (see introductory note to Epist. vii*).

1 See introductory note to Epist. vii*.

2 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

8 See above, p. 106, n. 3.

EPISTOLA VII** 118

Summary. — The Countess expresses her joy at the news
received from the Empress as to the auspicious progress of the
Emperor ; declares her confident belief in his ultimate success
with God's help ; and craves the protection of the Empress for
herself.

Serenissimae atque piissimae Dominae, Dominae Margari-
tae % coelestis miserationis intuitu Romanorum Keginae
et semper Augustae, devotissima sua G. de Battifolle b ,
Dei et Imperii gratia largiente Comitissa in Tuscia
Palatina, flexis humiliter genibus reverentiae debitum
exhibere}

Regalis epistolae documenta gratuita 2 ea qua potui
veneratione recepi, intellexi devote. Sed quum de pro-
speritate successuum vestri felicissimi cursus 3 familiariter
intimata concepi, 4 quanto libens animus concipientis
arriserit, placet potius commendare silentio tamquam 5
nuntio meliori 5 ; non enim verba significando sufficiunt

MS. = Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729
a MS. .M. b MS. bateffolle, with the first/expunctuated

1 See notes on title of Epist. vii*.

2 Cf. Epist. iv (iii). 2 : * affectus gratuitas \

3 Cf. ' faustissimus cursus ' in the colophons of Epist. vi, Epist. vii,
Epist. vii***. The reference is perhaps to the pacification oi Lodi
effected by the Emperor after his departure (April 19) from Milan,
and to the progress of his operations against Cremona, which was
reduced to submission in May (see Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua
Cronica, vol. ii, p. 368 n.).

4 Cf. Epist. ix. 5.

5 Cf. Canz. vii. 17-18 ; Conv. iii. 1, 11. 16-22, 38-9 ; iv. 5, 11. 140-5 ;
also Par. xxxiii. 55-6 ; Epist. x. 575-7 (see Moore, Studies in Dante,
iv. 273).

2165 I

114 LETTERS OF DANTE

ubi mens ipsa quasi debria superatur. 1 Itaque suppleat
regiae Celsitudinis 2 apprehensio quae scribentis humilitas
explicare non potest. At quamvis insinuata 8 per literas
inefFabiliter grata fuerint et iucunda, spes amplior tamen 10
et laetandi causas accumulat, et simul vota iusta con-
fectat. Spero equidem, de coelesti provisione confidens,
quam numquam falli vel praepediri posse non dubito, et
quae humanae civilitati 4 de principe singulari 5 providit,
quod exordia 6 vestri regni felicia semper in melius pro- 15
sperata procedent. Sic igitur in praesentibus et futuris
exultans, de Augustae clementia sine ulla haesitatione
recurro, et suppliciter tempestiva deposco, quatenus me
sub umbra tutissima vestri Culminis 7 taliter collocare
dignemini, ut cuiusque sinistrationis ab aestu sim semper 20
et videar esse secura.

1 Cf. Psalm xxxv. 9 ; Jerem. xxiii. 9 ; and Conv. iii. 8, 1. 133 ;
Inf. xxix. 2 ; Par. xxvii. 3.

2 Cf. Epist vii. 136 ; instances of ' Celsitudo' as a title of honour
are of frequent occurrence in the Regesta Pontiflcum Romanorum ;
thus the title of ' Regia Celsitudo ' is applied by Innocent III
(Oct. 4, 1204) to Frederick, King of Sicily (ed. Potthast, No. 2287),
and (Jan. 21, 1209) to King John of England (Potth., No. 3618) ;
and by Gregory IX (April 27, 1236) to Alexander II of Scotland
(Potth., No. 10148) ; that of ' Imperialis Celsitudo ' by Honorius III
(June 27, 1222) to the Emperor of Constantinople (Potth., No. 6868) ;
and by Gregory IX (July 22, 1227) to the Emperor Fiederick II
(Potth., No. 7972); and by the same (Oct. 1227) to the same
(Potth., No. 8049).

3 , Cf. Epist. x. 538, 548, 577 (see Moore, Studies in Dante, iii. 336).

4 Cf. Epist. vi. 4-8 ; Mon. i. 2, 11. 50, 54 ; 3, 1. 2 ; Conv. iv. 4, 11. 1-3.

5 See note on title of Epist. vii. (p. 87, n. 2).

6 Cf. Epist. i. 17 ; vi. 194.

7 Cf. Epist. viii. 164: 'Apostolicum Culmen', of the Pope ; the
title 'Culmen' is applied by Gregory IX (July 22, 1227) to the
Emperor Frederick II (Potthast, op. cit., No. 7972).

EPISTOLA VII** 115

Translation

To the most serene and most gracious Lady, the Lady
Margaret, oy the merciful dispensation ofHeaven Queen of
the Romans and ever Augusta, her most devoted servant,
G. di Battifolle, oy the oountiful grace of God and of the
Empire Countess Palatine in Tuscany, on her humbly
oended Jcnees presents her dutiful respects.

I received the favour of your royal letter with all
possible reverence, and studied its contents with devotion.
But when I perused your friendly intimation as to the
prosperous issue of your most auspicious progress, with
what great joy my heart was gladdened by the perusal
I prefer to commend to silence, as to a more competent
messenger ; for words* are not adequate as a means of
expression when the mind itself is overcome as it were
with inebriation. May then the understanding of your
Koyal Highness supply what the humility of your cor-
respondent is not able to convey. But although the news
contained in your letter was unspeakably welcome and
pleasing, yet a larger hope both heaps up fresh causes for
rejoicing, and already sees the fulfilment of its just
aspirations. I indeed hope, confiding in the providence
of Heaven, which, as I firmly believe, can never be
deceived, nor be hindered of its purpose, and which has
provided for civilized mankind one sole Prince, that the
happy inauguration of your reign may be confirmed by
ever-increasing prosperity. Exulting therefore in the
present as in the future, witnout hesitation I commit
myself to the clemency of Augusta, and humbly make
early supplication that you may deign to place me in safe-
keeping beneath your Eminence's shadow, in such wise
that I may ever be, and may be seen to be, sheltered from
the fiery heat of all and every untoward chance.

i°2

116

EPISTOLA VII***

(' Quum pagina vestrae Serenitatis')

To the Empress Margaret
[May 18, 1311]

MSS.— This, the third of the three so-called Battifolleletters,
addressed to the Empress Margaret in the name of a Countess
of Battifolle, has, like the other two, been preserved in one MS.
only, the Vatican MS. (Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729). 1

Printed Texts. 2 — 1. Torri (1842) : Epist. viii (op. cit., p. 64). s
2. Giuliani (1882) : Epist. i* (op. cit., p. 69). 3. Passerini (1910) :
Epist. xi (op. cit., pp. 154-6). 4. Paget Toynbee (1912) :
(diplornatic transcript of the MS. text, together with collations
of the several printed editions of the letter, and a list of
proposed emendations in the printed texts) in Modern Language
Review (vol. vii, pp. 23-4). 5. Moore (1914): (modernized
transcript of the preceding) in Modern Language Review (vol. ix,
p. 176). 6. Moore (1917) : (reprint of the preceding) in Studies
in Dante, iv (pp. 259-60). 7. Paget Toynbee (1917) : (emended
text) in Modern Language Review (vol. xii, pp. 307-8). 8. [Della
Torre] (1917): Epist. xii (op. cit., pp. 271-2).

Translations. 2 — Italian. 1. Torri (1842) : op. cit., p. 65.
2. Passerini (1910): op. cit., pp. 155-7. — German. Kannegiesser
(1845) : op. cit., pp. l§h-§.—English. Paget Toynbee (1917) :
in Modem Language Review, vol. xii, pp. 308-9 (see below,
pp. 119-20).

Authenticity.— See introductory note to Epist. vii*.

Date.— This is one of three among the letters attributed to

1 See introductory note to Epist. vii*.

2 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

3 See above, p. 106, n. 3.

EPISTOLA VII*** 117

Dante which is specifically dated (May 18, 1311), the other two
being the letter to the Florentines (Epist. vi) and the letter to
the Emperor Henry VII (Epist. vii). 1

Summary. — The Countess acknowledges with rejoicing the
good news sent by the Empress as to the operations of the
Emperor ; and in obedience to the Empress's wish states that
her husband and herself and children are in good health and
happy at the thought of the reviving fortunes of the Imperial
cause.

Illustrissimae atque piissimae Dominae, Dominae Mar-
garitae, divina providentia Romanorum Reginae et
semper Augustae, fidelissima sua G. de Battifolle 3 ;
Dei et Imperialis indulgentiae gratia Comitissa in
Tuscia Palatina, cum promptissima recommendatione
se ipsam et voluntarium ad obsequiafamulatum. 2,

Quum paginavestraeSerenitatis 3 apparuitantescriben-
tis et gratulantis aspectum, experta est mea pura fidelitas
quam in dominorum successibus animi b 4 subditorum

MS. = Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729

a MS. batifolle b MS. ta ; the reading in the text is conjectural ;
Torri, followed by Giuliani and Passerini, reads pectora

1 See introductory notes to Epist. vi and Epist. vii* (pp. 65, 108).

2 See notes on title of Epist. vii*.

3 The title of ' Serenitas ' applied to royal and imperial personages
is of frequent occurrence in the Regesta Pontificum Romanorum ; it is
applied by Honorius III (May 29, 1224) to Louis VIII of France
(ed. Pottbast, No. 7202) ; by Gregory IX (March 30, 1227) to the
Emperor Frederick II (Potth., No. 7869), &c; that of ' Imperialis
Serenitas' by the same (Aug. 19, 1236) to the same (Potth.,
No. 10228) ; that of < Regalis Serenitas ' by Innocent III (Feb. 25,
1208) to Peter II of Aragon (Potth., No. 3306).

4 The MS. reading (ta = tam) makes no sense ; it is possibly
a corruption of ai (= animi).

118 LETTERS OF DANTE

fidelium collaetentur. Nam per ea quae continebantur
in ipsa cum tota cordis hilaritate concepi qualiter dex- 5
tera Summi Regis vota Caesaris et Augustae feliciter
adimplebat. 1 Proinde gradum meae fidelitatis experta,
petentis audeo iam inire officium. 2 Ergo ad audientiam
vestrae Sublimitatis 3 exorans, et suppliciter precor et
devote deposco quatenus mentis oculis 4 intueri digne- 10
mini praelibatae interdum fidei puritatem. Verum quia
nonnulla regalium clausurarum videbatur hortari ut, si
quando nuntiorum facultas adesset, Celsitudini 5 regiae
aliquid peroptando de status mei conditione referrem,
quamvis quaedam praesumptionis facies 6 interdicat, 15
obedientiae tamen suadente virtute obediam. 7 Audiat
ex quo iubet Romanorum pia et serena Maiestas quo-
niam tempore missionis praesentium coniunx praedilectus
et ego, Dei dono, vigebamus incolumes, liberorum sospi-

1 This is perhaps a reference to the recent reduction of Cremona
by the Emperor, and possibly also to the capture of Vicenza by
Can Grande della Scala in the Imperial interest at about the same
time (seo Chronological Table).

- Cf. Epist. x. 89 : ; lectoris officium '.

3 ' Sublimitas ' as a title of honour is applied by Honorius III
(Nov. 22, 1226) to the Emperor Frederick II (Potthast, op. cit.,
No. 7614) ; by Gregory IX (March 23, 1227) to the same (Potth.,
No. 7864) ; by the same (June 4, 1238) to the King of Portugal
(Potth., No. 10611); and ' Regia Sublimitas' by the same (April 3,
1230) to Alexander II of Scotland (Potth., No. 8514).

4 Cf. Epist. ii. 30 (where see note).

5 See note on this word in Epist. vii** (p. 114, n. 2).

6 Cf. Epist. vii. 26 : ' facies veritatis '.

7 Moore punctuates (Mod. Lang. Rev. ix. 176 ; Studies in Bante,
iv. 260) : ' quamvis quaedam praesumptionis facies interdicat
obedientiae, tamen suadente virtute obediam ' ; but both the con-
struction and the cursus — 'facies interdicat' (velox) — point to the
punctuation adopted in the text.

EPISTOLA VII'** 119

tate gaudentes, tanto solito laetiores quanto signa re- 20
surgentis Imperii meliora iam saecula promittebant. 1

Missum de castro Poppii 2 xv Kalendas Iunias faustis-
simi cursus Henrici Caesaris ad Italiam anno primo. 3

Translation

To the most illustrious and most gracious Lady, the Lady
Margaret, oy Divine Providence Queen ofthe Bomans and
ever Augusta, her most faithful servant, G. di Battifolle,
oy the grace of God and of the Imperial indulgence
Countess Palatine in Tuscany, with the most zealous
devotion offers herself and her willing service to command.

When the letter of your Serenity came before the eyes
of her who writes and sends this greeting, my sincere
devotion proved in what measure the hearts of devoted
servants are made glad by the happy fortunes of their
Lords. For from the contents of your letter I gathered
with the most complete rejoicing of heart how the right
hand of the Most High King was auspiciously bringing
about the accomplishment of the wishes of Caesar and of
Augusta. Having then made proof of the measure of my
devotion, I now make bold to assume the part of petitioner.
Supplicating therefore the attention of your Eminence,
I humbly beg and earnestly beseech that you may deign
to examine with the eyes of your mind the sincerity of
the devotion of which I have spoken. But whereas
a sentence in the royal letter seemed to urge that, should
the opportunity of a messenger occur, I should furnish to
your Royal Highness, agreeably to my fervent desire,
some particulars as to the condition of my circumstances,
although a certain appearance of presumption would
forbid me, yet under the suasion of the virtue of
obedience I will obey. May it please the gracious and

1 Cf. Epist. vii. 20-1 : ' nova spes Latio saeculi melioris effulsit \

2 See note on colophon of Epist. vi.

3 Cf. the colophons of Epist. vi and Epist. vii, and see above, p. 65.

120 LETTERS OF DANTE

serene Majesty of the Romans to learn, since such is her
command, that at the moment of the dispatch of these
presents my beloved husband and myself, by the gift of
God, were prospering and in good health, rejoicing in the
welfare of our children, and more than usually joyful in
that the omens of the reviving fortunes of the Imperial
cause were already giving promise of more happy times to
come.

Dispatched from the castle of Poppi on the eighteenth
of May l in the first year of the most auspicious passage
of the Emperor Henry into Italy.

1 *xv Kalendas Iunias', which Torri renders ' il 16 Maggio ', and
Mascetta-Caracci (loc. cit.) ' il 16 Giugno '.

121

EPISTOLA VIII

( f Qnomodo sola sedet civitas ')

To the Italian Cardinals
[May or June, 1314]

MSS.— This letter, like those to a Pistojan Exile (Epist. iii
(iv)), and to a Friend in Florence (Epist. ix), has been preserved
(unfortunately in a very corrupt text 1 ) only in the Laurentian
MS. (Cod. xxix. 8) already mentioned, 2 the portion of which
containing these three letters is in the handwriting of Boccaccio,
and was executed probably about the year 1348.

Printed Texts. 3 — 1. Carlo Troya (1826) : (in part 4 ) in Del
Veltro Allegorico di Dante (Firenze, 1 826 ; pp. 214-16). 2. Witte
(1826) : (in part 5 ) in Antologia Fiorentina (Firenze, Sett. 1826 ;
vol. xxiii, pp. 57-9). 3. Witte (1827): Epist. vii, in Dantis
Alligherii Epistolae quae exstant (pp. 53-61). 4. Fraticelli
(1840) : Epist. iv (op. cit., pp. 256-74). 5. Torri (1842) : Epist.
xii (op. cit., pp. 82-90). 6. Muzzi (1845): Epist. i, in Tre
Epistole Latine di Dante Allighieri restituite a piu vera lezione
(Prato, 1845; pp. 11-18). 7. Fraticelli (1857): Epist. ix (op.
cit. } pp. 510-18). 8. Giuliani (1882): Epist. viii (op. cit,

1 Consequently editors of the letter have indulged pretty freely
in conjectural emendations. I have been able to restore the MS.
reading in a considerable number of passages ; but, as will be seen,
I have myself introduced a certain number of conjectural emenda-
tions, for some of which, as well as for many valuable criticisms
and suggestions, I am indebted to my friend the Principal of
Brasenose (Dr. Heberden).

2 See introductory note on Episl. iii (iv) (p. 19).

3 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1-2.

4 Troya printed the first part of the letter, with the omission of
certain words, as far as the middle of § 4 ('vehiculum habeatis').

5 Witte printed the portion omitted by Troya.

m LETTERS OF DANTE

pp. 27-31). 9. Scartazzini (1890) : in Prolegomeni della Divina
Commedia (Leipzig, 1890; pp. 128-32). 10. Moore (1894):
Epist. viii (op. cit, pp. 411-13). 11. Passerini (1910) : Epist. viii
(op. c*Y.,pp. 80-94). 12. E. Rostagno (1912) : (diplomatic tran-
script of the MS. text) in La Bibliofilia (Firenze, Nov. 1912). 1
13. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. xv (op. cit., pp. 275-82). 14.
Paget Toynbee (1918) : (diplomatic transcript of the MS. text,
together with collations of the various readings of the several
printed editions of the letter, and a list of proposed emendations
in the Oxford text) in Modem Language Review (vol. xiii, pp. 210-
15). 15. Paget Toynbee (1918): (emended text) in Modern
Language Revieio (vol. xiii, pp. 219-23).

Tkanslations. 2 — JtaZwm. 1. Fraticelli (1840): op. cit., pp.
257-75. 2. Torri (1842) : op. cit., pp. 83-91. 3. Muzzi (1845) :
op. cit., pp. 26-31. 4. Fraticelli (1857) : (revised trans.) op. cit.,
pp. 511-19. 5. Passerini (1910): op. cit., pp. 81-95. -German.
1. Kannegiesser (1845) : op. cit. t pp. 201-7. 2. Scartazzini
(1879) : (extracts) in Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein Leben und
seine Werke (pp. 406-8). 3. Wegele (1879): (extracts) in Danie
Alighierfs Leben und Werke (pp. 262-5). 4. Kraus (1897) :
(extracts) in Dante, sein Leben und sein Werk (pp. 308-11).
—English. 1. Latham (1891) : op. cit., pp. 164-73. 2. Wick-
steed (1898): in A Provisional Translation of Dante^s Political
Letters (pp. 22-8). 3. Wicksteed (1904): (revised trans.) in
Translation of the Latin Works of Dante Alighieri (pp. 331-7).
4. Paget Toynbee (1918) : in Modern Language Review, vol. xiii,
pp. 223-7 (see below, pp. 143-7).

Authenticity. — This letter is the third of the three men-
tioned by Villani in his notice of Dante in his Cronica : ' In
tra V altre fece tre nobili pistole ; 1' una mando al reggimento
di Firenze dogliendosi del suo esilio sanza colpa ; 1' altra mando
allo 'mperadore Arrigo . . . ; la terza a' cardinali italiani, quand'
era la vacazione dopo la morte di papa Clemente, acciocche

1 This had originally been printed separately ' per nozze \

2 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, p. 2.

EPISTOLA VIII 128

s'accordassono a eleggere papa italiano' (ix. 136). It was
known to Petrarch, who in his canzone ' Spirto gentil ' addressed
to the Roman Senator Bosone da Gubbio in 1336 or 1337, in
which he conjures him to make an end of the factions in Rome,
and to restore the city to its ancient freedom and greatness, 1
echoes Dante's phrase 'Roma nunc Hannibali ncdum alii
miseranda' (11. 142-4) in the line 'Ch' Annibale, non ch' altri,
farian pio J (1. 65). 2 The letter was also known to Rienzi, who
introduced many phrases from it in his own letter (written in
1351) to the Cardinal Guy de Boulogne. 3 The Dantesque

1 See Le Rime di Francesco Peirarca, edited by G. Mestica, Firenze,
1896, p. 79.

2 Witte, Fraticelli, Torri, Bartoli, and others draw attention to
a supposed imitation of this same phrase from Dante's letter in
the oration delivered at Florence on July 2, 1347, by Francesco
de' Baroncelli, as envoy from Rienzi. But BaroncellPs source was
not Dante's letter, but the canzone of Petrarch referred to above,
as a comparison of the following passage from Baroncelli's oration
with 11. 57-65 of the canzone proves beyond a doubt : ' Le donne
lagrimose e '1 popolo lacerato, i romei, religiosi e altra gente, tutti
travagliati e oppressi, quale per uno modo, quale per un altro,
mostravano le loro piaghe delle loro ingiurie a mille insieme, che
non solo altri, ma Annibale crudelissimo avrian fatto pietoso ' (in
Cronica di Giovanni Villani, ed. Magheri, vol. viii, p. ccxxiv). The
lines of the canzone (numbered vi in Mestica's edition, usually xi)
are :

Le donne lagrimose e '1 vulgo inerme
De la tenera etate e i vecchi stanchi,
Ch' anno se in odio e la soverchia vita,
E i neri fraticelli e i bigi e i bianchi,
Coll' altre schiere travagliate e 'nferme,
Gridan : signor nostro, aita, aita ;
E la povera gente sbigottita
Ti scopre le sue piaghe a mille a mille,
Ch' Annibale, non ch' altri, farian pio.

3 In Epistolario di Cola di Rienzo, ed. A. Gabrielli, Roma, 1890,
pp. 204 ff. Compare ' Dicet aliquis forte mihi : quid tua refert,
o minime civium, qualitercumque arca Romanae reipublicae recalci-
trantibus deferatur a bobus? et velis praesumptuosa tu manu

124 LETTERS OF DANTE

authorship of the letter, which has been disputed, but is now
generally admitted, was first recognized by Carlo Troya. 1

Date. — After the death of the Gascon Pope Clement V (' il
Guasco ', Par. xvii. 82), at Roquemaure on the Rhone, on April
20, 1314, the Cardinals to the number of twenty-four assembled
in Conclave at Carpentras, about sixteen miles from Avignon,
to elect a successor. Of these, six only were Italian, namely
Niccolo da Prato, Napoleone Orsini, Guglielmo de' Longhi,
Francesco Gaetani, and Jacopo and Pietro Colonna ; the rest
being French, for the most part Gascons devoted to the interests
represented by the late Pope. The Italian Cardinals fixed their
hopes on a candidate, an Italian Bishop, though a Frenchman
(Guillaume de Mandagot, Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina), who
should restore the Papal See to Rome, and should rescue the
Papacy from the predominating French, and especially Gascon,
influence. The Gascon party, fearing that if the Bishop of
Palestrina were elected their plans would be defeated, on July
14, with Bertrand de Got, the late Pope's nephew, at their head,
burst into the Conclave, with arms in their hands, and, shouting
1 Death to the Italian Cardinals ', drove them out and forced
them to take refuge at Valence. 2 The Conclave being thus

illam erigere, quae non nisi forsan suprema dispensatione sic
trahitur, et quod dispensatorie agitur, tenere tu repenses? an
putas, ovis una, totum romanum gregem plus suo pastore diligere
. . . ? ' with 11. 67-72 of Dante's letter. Rienzi speaks of the
1 romanum ovile ' (cf. 1. 22) ; of the ' sacrilegii, scismatis haeresis-
que commaculae ' (cf. 11. 30-2) ; of the ' praecipitium ' into which
the people are being led (cf. 11. 48-9); of 'civitatem sanctam,
evacuatam, . . . desolatam ' (cf. 11. 144-5); of 'piissima mater'
(cf. 1. 107), &c.

1 See Bel Veltro AUegorico di Dante, pp. 204-5, 214-16.

2 An account of this outrage was given by the Italian Cardinals
themselves in an encyclical letter dated from Valence on Sept. 8
of the same year, within a few weeks of the event : ' Venerabilibus
in Christo Patribus religiosis viris fratribus Cisterciensi[bus], de
Firmitate, de Pontiniaco, de Claravalle, et de Morimundo monasterio-
rum Abbatibus, necnon et generali capitulo ordinis Cisterciensis,

EPISTOLA VIII 125

broken up, the See remained vacant for more than two years,
until at last a candidate was agreed upon in the person of

amicis carissimis, miseratione divina fratres Nicolaus Ostiensis et
Vellitrensis Episcopus, Neapoleo sancti Adriani, Guillermus sancti
Nicolai in carcere Tulliano, Franciscus sanctae Mariae inCosmedin,
et Iacobus et Petrus de Columna sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae
Diaconi Cardinales, salutem et sinceram in Domino caritatem. . . .
Dum nos et alii Ecclesiae Romanae Cardinales post obitum Domini
Clementis Papae quinti essemus in palatio civitatis Carpentora-
tensis ad eligendum futurum summum Pontificem, sub uno
conclavi, et nos Cardinales Italici, non quaerentes quae nostra
sunt, sed quae Dei, neglectis singularibus affectionibus reciprocis
in nos ipsos, peteremus hominem ad sustinendas columnas
Ecclesiae, qui dictam Ecclesiam reformando dirigeret, essetque
in hoc tantum nostra omnis cura, omnis intentio, hic affectus,
subito Vascones, seu quod libram examinis sub futuro summo
Pontifice teste conscientia formidarent, seu quod armorum vio-
lentia crederent hereditario iure Dei sanctuarium possidere, ex
deliberato atque proposito, tamen sub palliato colore, deferendi
videlicet corpus eiusdem Papae, in copiosa peditum et equitum
armatorum multitudine convenerunt, et scelus quod mente con-
ceperant producentes in actum, die xxiv Iulii arma sumpserunt
bellica, et sub ordinatione Bertrandi de Guto et Raymundi
Guillermi Domini Papae nepotum civitatem Carpentoratensem
intrantes, multos curiales Italicos, cum soli Italici peterentur ad
mortem, inhumaniter trucidarunt, et se ad praedam convertentes
et spolia, crescente rabie ac ad crudelia fervescente furore, in
diversis civitatis partibus incendia posuerunt. Nec iis contenti,
plurimorum Cardinalium ex nobis hospitia duris insultibus et
iniectis ignibus invadentes, bella ibidem acerrima cum clangore
tubarum hostiliter intulerunt. Invalescente tandeni graviori peri-
culo et gravissimo, sicut in captis civitatibus assolet, increbrescente
rumore, multitudo Vasconum et equitum armatorum ostium dicti
conclavis obsedit acclamando Moriantur Cardinales Italici; Volumus
Papam, volumus Papam ; et ipsis in huiusmodi acclamatione fre-
mentibus, alia multitudo Vasconum et equitum armatorum
plateam dicti conclavis invasit, similibus circumdato palatio
vocibus acclamando. Nos vero praefati Cardinales Italici circum-
septi tantis angustiis et mori tam turpiter tam crudeliter metuentes,
cum omnia circum conclave armatorum multitudo teneret, neque

126 LETTERS OF DANTE

Jacques cTEuse of Cahors, Archbishop of Avignon, who was
elected Pope at Lyons on Aug. 7, 1316, and took the title of
John XXII. It is impossible to fix precisely the date of Dante's
letter to the Italian Cardinals ; but from his reference (in
11. 182-3) to 'the contest that is already begun', it appears
probable that it was written soon after the death of Clement, in
the early days of the Conclave, that is in May or June, 1314, and
at any rate before the irruption of the Gascons into the Con-
clave which reduced the Italian Cardinals to impotence.

Summary.— § 1. As the corruption of the priesthood of old
brought ruin on Jerusalem, whose fate was lamented by
Jeremiah ; § 2. so now Rome, which by the blood of Peter and
Paul was consecrated as the Apostolic See, suffers in like
manner, and like her is left desolate. §3. Jews and Gentiles
make a mock of her, and the powers of evil prevail, which
things astrologers and false prophets declare to be of necessity,
whereas they arise from the abuse of free will. § 4. The Cardi-
nals, the special guardians t of the Church, have gone astray
from the track, and have brought themselves and their charge
to the verge of destruction. Let them take warning by the fate
of Nadab and Abihu, and of them that sold doves in the temple,
and repent them of their transgressions ere it be too late. § 5. If
the writer be charged with the presumption of Uzzah, he will
reply that Uzzah laid his hand on the Ark, whereas he gives heed
to the unruly oxen that are dragging it into the wilderness.
§ 6. If shame be not dead, they should blush at the thought that
his voice alone, and that of a private individual, should be
raised in lamentation over the demise of the Church. § 7. But
little wonder, for one and all are devoted to covetousness, the
Fathers of the Church are neglected for the Decretalists, and
publicus pateret egressus, tandem posteriorem murum palatii,
facto inibi parvo foramine, pro nostra salute rupimus, de Car-
pentorate postmodum dispersi discedentes, non sine mortis peri-
culo ad diversa loca discessimus, et per misericordiam Dei, quae
est illa quae nos salvos reddidit, ad terras pervenimus amicorum. . . .
Datum Valentiae die octava Septembris.' (See Baluze, Vitae
Paparum Avenionensium, Paris, 1693; vol. ii, col. 286-8.)

EPISTOLA VIII 127

not God but riches are the object of their worship. § 8. Let
them not suppose that he is alone in his opinion, for on all sides
men are thinking what he proclaims aloud ; but they hold their
peace instead of bearing witness. §9. It is they themselves
have compelled him to lift up his voice, and they should be
ashamed to receive rebuke from so humble a source ; but shame
may beget repentance, which in turn may give birth to purpose
of amendment. § 10. With this view let them consider the
present unhappy condition of Rome, deprived as she is of both
her luminaries, which is their special concern as Cardinals of
the Roman Church ; and let them reflect that it is they, and two
of them in particular, who have beeri responsible for her mis-
fortunes. §11. But there shall be amendment of the evil if
they one and all strive manfully on behalf of the Church, and
of Rome, and of Italy, so that the greed of the Gascons be
defeated, and they be made an example for all ages.

[Cardinalibus Italicis Dantes de Florentia, etc. & *]

§ 1. ' Quomodo sola sedet civitas, plena populo ! facta
est quasi vidua domina gentium.'' 2 Principum quondam
5 Pharisaeorum cupiditas, quae sacerdotium vetus abomi-
nabile fecit, non modo Leviticae prolis ministerium
transtulit, 3 quin et praeelectae civitati David obsidionem 5
peperit et ruinam. Quod quidem de specula punctali b 4

MS. = Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8 0. = Oxford Dante

a 0. Dantes Aligherius de Florentia b MS. puctalis ; 0. provecta

1 This heading obviously did not form part of the original
letter.

2 Lam. i. 1. 3 2 Chron. xi. 14.

4 Presumably from punctus, in the sense of ' at the point', *at
the summit', hence 'exalted', 'sublime'. I have not been able
to meet with another instance of the word. For the expression,
cf. Epist. vii. 136-7 : ' de specula summae celsitudinis'.

128 LETTERS OF DANTE

10 aeternitatis intuens Qui solus aeternus est, mentem Deo
dignam viri prophetici * per Spiritum Sanctum sua ius-
sione impressit, et sanctam a Ierusalem velut exstinctam,

15 per verba praesignata, et nimium, proh dolor ! iterata, lo
deflevit.

§ % Nos quoque, eundem b Patrem et Hlium, eundem
Deum et Hominem, nec non eandem Matrem et Virginem

20 profitentes, propter quos et propter quorum salutem ter
de caritate interrogatum et dictum est c 2 : ' Petre, pasce 15
oves meas ', scilicet sacrosanctum ovile, Romam d 3 (cui
post tot triumphorum pompas, et verbo et opere Christus

25 orbis confirmavit imperium, 4 quam etiam ille Petrus, et
Paulus gentium praedicator, 5 in Apostolicam sedem

a O. et is sanctam b MS. idem c MS. ter de carite interogatum
dictum est ; O. ter de caritate interrogato, dictum est d MS. petre pasce

sacrosanctam ouilem romanam ; O. ' Petre, pasce sacrosanctum ovile ' ;
Romam

1 Jeremiah. ,

w

2 The insertion of et is required by the sense, and also rectifies

the cursus — ' (interro)gatum et dictum est ' (tardus).

3 There can hardly be a doubt that there is an omission here on
the part of the copyist of the MS. (whose carelessness is evidenced
by his writing carite for caritate), and that Dante must have quoted
the actual words of the Vulgate, ' pasce oves meas ' (John xxi. 15-17).
Possibly the original reading was, '"Petre, pasce oves meas",
scilicet pasce sacrosanctum ovile, Komam ', in which case the
omission may have been due to the repetition of the word ' pasce '
(on scribal errors of this nature arising from o/iotoreXeuTa, see
Moore, Studies in Dante, iv. 6). The insertion of scilicet seems
necessary ; the abbreviation of which (f.), especially when preceding
another i ( = s), might easily have been overlooked by the copyist.
The reading here adopted follows in part a suggestion of Giuliani
(see also Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xix. 269, n. 2).

4 Cf. Orosius, Adv. Paganos, vi. 22, §§ 6, 7, 8; vii. 3, § 4.

5 Rom. xi. 13 ; 1 Tim. ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 11.

EPISTOLA VIII 129

aspergine proprii a sanguinis consecrarunt b J ), cum 20
Ieremia, non lugenda d postvenientes, sed post ipsa e

30 dolentes, viduam et desertam f lugere compellimur.

§ 3. 2 Piget 8 , heu ! non minus quam plagam lamenta-
bilem cernere h haeresium, 3 quod 4 impietatis * fautores,
Iudaei, Saraceni, et gentes j sabbata nostra rident, 5 et, 25

35 ut fertur, conclamant : * Ubi est Deus eorum ? ' ° et quod
forsan k suis insidiis apostatae 7 Potestates 8 contra *

a MS. propij b MS. consecrauit c 0. quam nunc cum I. d O.
lugendo e MS. ipso ; 0. ipsum f MS. disertam e O. compellimur ;
piget h MS. cernerei. (?) ! MS. heresium. impietatis ; 0. haeresium.
Impietatis j MS. egentes k O. Etforsan l MS. insidiis apotestate
potentes contra ; 0. insidiis ac potestati contra

1 According to tradition St. Peter was crucified, and St. Paul
was beheaded, at Konje. Cf. Orosius : ' [Nero] primus Eomae
Christianos suppliciis et mortibus affecit, ac per omnes provincias
pari persecutione excruciari imperavit, ipsumque nomen exstirpare
conatus beatissimos Christi apostolos Petrum cruce, Paulum gladio
occidit' (Adv. Paganos, vii. 7, § 10) ; and Par. xviii. 131-2.

2 The reconstruction of the text makes it necessary to begin § 3
here, instead of at ' impietatis fautores ' as in the Oxford text.

3 It is possible that the correcfc reading is not cernere haeresium,
which is unsatisfactory as violating the cursus. The MS. reading
appears to be cernerei heresium, a stroke, which looks like a final i,
being attached to cernere ; as this is followed by a point it may
have originally been written separately and intended for the
abbreviation of idest, thus giving cernere, idest haeresium, as the
reading, which restores the cursus — 'idest haeresium' (tardus).

4 The insertion of quod here seems necessary in view of the et
quodforsan of 1. 36.

5 Lam. i. 7 (cf. Par. v. 81).

6 Psalm lxxviii. 10 ; cxiii 2 . 2.

7 I am indebted to Dr. Heberden for this brilliant and wholly
convincing emendation of the MS. reading apotestate, which was
no doubt due to the scribe's ignorance of the comparatively
unfamiliar apostate ( = apostatae). The word occurs twice in the
Vulgate, viz. Joo xxxiv. 18 ; Prov. vi. 16.

8 This emendation gives the required antithesis to the defensantes

2165 k

130 LETTERS OF DANTE

defensantes Angelos hoc adscribunt ; et, quod horribilius
est, quod astronomi a quidam et crude prophetantes

40 necessarium asserunt, quod, male usi libertate arbitrii, 30
eligere maluistis. 1

§ 4. Vos equidem, ecclesiae militantis veluti primi
praepositi pili, 2 per manifestam orbitam Crucifixi cur-

45 rum b Sponsae regere negligentes, non aliter quam falsus
auriga Phaeton 3 exorbitastis ; et, quorum sequentem 35
gregem per saltus peregrinationis huius 4 illustrare inter-
erat, ipsum una vobiscum ad praecipitium traduxistis.

50 Nec adimitanda vobis recenseo, quum d dorsa, non vultus,
ad Sponsae vehiculum 5 habeatis — vere dici possetis e , qui
prophetae ostensi sunt, male versi ad templum 6 — ; 40

55 vobis f ignem de coelo missum despicientibus, ubi nunc

a MS. asironomij ; 0. omits quod b MS. cursum c MS. nobiscum
d MS. nec adimitanda recenseo cum ; 0. Nec ad imitandum recenseo vobis
exempla, quum ■ O.possitis f MS. Nobis

Angelos of 1. 37. It is probable that the scribe, having written
apotestate instead of apostate, to avoid the apparent repetition then
altered potestates into potentes. Dante in this passage seems to have
had in mind Ephes. vi. 11-12.

1 Cf. the passage on necessity and free will in Purg. xvi. 67-78.

2 Cf. Par. xxiv. 59, where Dante speaks of St. Peter as ' I* alto
primipilo \ The centurio primi pili was the centurion of the front
rank of the triarii (the veteran soldiers who formed the third
rank from the front when the legion was drawn up in order of
battle), and hence was the chief centurion of the legion. Cf.
Vegetius, Be Re Militari, ii. 8.

3 Cf. Inf. xvii. 107 ; Purg. iv. 72 ; xxix. 118-20 ; Par. xvii. 3 ;
xxxi. 125 ; Conv. ii. 15, 11. 53 ff. Dante got the story of Phaethon
from Ovid, Metam. ii. 1-324.

* Eeb. xi. 13.

5 Cf. Purg. xxxii. 119, where the mystic car, representing the
Church, is spoken of as • il trionfal veiculo '.

6 Ezek. viii. 16.

EPISTOLA VIII 131

arae ab alieno calescunt * ; vobis columbas in templo a
vendentibus, 2 ubi quae^ pretio mensurari non possunt,
in detrimentum hinc inde commorantium c 3 , venalia

60 facta sunt. Sed attendatis ad funiculum, 4 attendatis ad 45
ignem 5 ! neque patientiam contemnatis Iljius, qui ad
poenitentiam vos expectat. Quod si de praelibato prae-
cipitio dubitatur, quid aliud declarando respondeam,

65 nisi quod in Alcimum 6 cum Demetrio 7 consensistis ?

§ 5. Forsitan, ' et quis iste d , qui Ozae 8 repentinum 50
supplicium non formidans, ad arcam, quamvis labantem,

70 se erigit ? ' indignanter obiurgabitis. Quippe de ovibus

a O. in templis b MS. ubique c MS. hinc inde commurancium ;
0. haec ad commutandum d 0. Forsitan et ' quis

1 The reference is to Nadab and Abihu, who ' offered strange fire
before the Lord ', Levit. x. 1.

2 John ii. 14-15.

3 The useof commoror with hinc inde is unusual, and raises a doubt
as to the reading. Dr. Heberden suggests that the true reading
may be commeantium or commigrantium.

4 The * scourge of small cords ' (in the Vulgate ' flagellum de
funiculis') used by Christ to purge the temple, John ii. 15.

5 That is, the fire which consumed Nadab and Abihu, Levit. x. 2
(see note on 1. 56). Cf. Epist. vii. 170 : ' attendat ad laqueum '.

6 Alcimus was the high-priest who was appointed by Demetrius,
King of Syria, in opposition to Judas Maccabaeus (1 Maccao. vii-ix).

7 Demetrius I, King of Syria, 162-150 b.c. When he came to
the throne, Alcimus, who was captain of 'all the wicked and
ungodly men of Israel', wishing to be appointed high-priest,
accused Judas Maccabaeus of being hostile to the king, who sent
a force against Judas and made Alcimus high-priest (1 Maccab.
vii. 9). The allusion is to the dealings of Philip the Fair of France
and Pope Clement V (typified respectively by Demetrius and
Alcimus) with regard to the election of the latter to the Papal See
(cf. Villani, viii. 80).

8 2 Sam. vi. 6-7 ; cf. Purg. x. 55-7. For Rienzi's imitation of this
passage, see above, p. 123, n. 3.

K 2

132 LETTERS OF DANTE

in pascuis 8,1 Iesu Christi minima una sum 2 ; quippe
nulla pastorali auctoritate abutens, quoniam divitiae

75 mecum non sunt. Non ergo divitiarum, sed gratia Dei 55
sum id quod sum, 3 et 4 zelus domus eius comedit me b V
Nam etiam in ore lactentium et infantium 5 sonuit iam
Deo placita c veritas, et caecus natus veritatem confessus

80 est, quam Pharisaei non modo tacebant, sed et maligne
reflectere conabantur. 6 His habeo persuasum quod 60
audeo. Habeo praeter haec d praeceptorem Philoso-

a MS., 0. ovibus pascuis b MS. omits me ; 0. me comedit c MS.
placida d 0. hoc

1 Pascuus is used only of land and the like (as ' pascuus ager ',
' pascua rura ', ' pascua silva '), never of animals. Either, there-
fore, the MS. reading ovibus pascuis is corrupt, or it involves
a blunder. It is possible, but hardly probable, that Dante may
have been misled by such passages of the Vulgate as Psalm lxxviii.
13 ('oves pascuae tuae') and Psalm xcix. 3 ('oves pascuae eius'),
where pascuae is not the adjective, but the genitive singular of
pascua. It seems necessary, therefore, to supply in, which (in
MS. i) might easily have been overlooked by a careless copyist.
The phrase * in pascuis ' occurs in this same letter (1. 100). Giuliani
recognized the difficulty and read pascui, but in mediaeval Latin
the neuter pascuum was not used in the singular ; the rule being
that for the singular the feminine pascua should be used, and for
the plural either the feminine pascuae or the neuter pascua. Thus
Giovanni da Genova says in the Catholicon: l A pasco, -scis, derivatur
hec pascua, -scue ; unde in psalmo : In loco pascue ibi me collocavit.
Sed in plurali est neutri generis, scilicet, hec pascua, -orum ; unde
Ezech. xxxiiii : Nonne satis erat vobis pascua bona depasci.
Invenitur etiam in feminino genere hec pascue, -arum ; unde idem
propheta in eodem capitulo : Insuper et reliquias pascuarum
vestrarum conculcastis pedibus vestris. Idem in eodem capitulo :
In montibus excelsis Israel erunt pascue earum.'

2 Cf. 1 Cor. xv. 9; and Quaestio, tit. 3, where Dante speaks of
himself as 'inter vere philosophantes minimus'.

3 1 Cor. xv. 10. 4 Psalm lxviii. 10.
5 Psalm viii. 3. 6 John ix. 1-41.

EPISTOLA VIII 133

phum, qui cuncta moralia dogmatizans, amicis omnibus
85 veritatem docuit praeferendam. 1 Nec Ozae praesumptio,
quam obiectandam quis crederet quasi temere prorum-
pentem me inficit a sui tabe reatus ; quia ille ad arcam, 65
ego ad boves calcitrantes per abvia b distrahentes,
90 attendo c . Ille ad arcam proficiat, qui salutiferos oculos
ad naviculam fluctuantem aperuit ! d 2

§ 6. Non itaque videor quemquam exacerbasse ad
iurgia ; quin potius confusionis ruborem et in vobis et 70
95 aliis, nomine solo archimandritis 3 (per orbem 4 duntaxat e
pudor eradicatus non sit totaliter) accendisse, quum de
tot pastoris officium usurpantibus, de tot ovibus, et si
100 non abactis, neglectis tamen et incustoditis in pascuis,
una sola vox, sola pia, et haec privata, in matris Eccle- 75
siae quasi funere audiatur.

§ 7. Quidni ? Cupiditatem unusquisque sibi duxit
105 uxorem/ 5 quemadmodum et vos, quae nunquam pietatis

a O. inficiet b 0. etper abvia c MS. actendor d O. aperuit.
e 0. archimandritis, per orbem (duntaxat f MS., O. duxit in uxorem

1 Ethics i. 6 ; cf. Conv. iv. 8, 11. 141-4 ; Mon. iii. 1, 11. 17-18.
3 Matt. viii. 24-6 ; Mark iv. 36-9 ; Luke viii. 22-5.

3 Cf. Par. xi. 99, where Dante applies the term to St. Francis ;
and Mon. iii. 9, 1. 123, where he applies it to St. Peter. Uguccione
da Pisa in his Magnae Derivationes says of this word (s.v. mando) :
' Hec mandra, -dre, id est bubulcus, a bobus sibi commendatis, vel
quia boum nomina mandat memorie . . . ; vel mandros dicitur ovis,
unde hic et hec mandra, pastor ovium, et per compositionem hic et
hec archimandrita, -te, quasi princeps vel pastor ovium, unde et
quadam translacione episcopi et archiepiscopi et etiam sacerdotes
dicuntur archimandrite, quasi pastores ovium '.

4 Giuliani is undoubtedly right in his suggestion that the
parenthesis should begin (as in Muzzi's text), not at duntaxat as
in the textus receptus, but &t per orbem.

5 The MS. reads duxit in uxorem, but the usual phrase is ducere

134 LETTERS OF DANTE

et aequitatis, ut caritas, sed semper impietatis et iniqui-
tatis est genetrix. Ha ! mater piissima, Sponsa Christi, 80
quae a inaqua et Spiritu x generas tibi filios ad ruborem !

1 10 Non caritas, non Astraea, 2 sed filiae b sanguisugae 3 factae
sunt tibi nurus. Quae quales pariant tibi foetus, praeter
Lunensem pontificem, 4 omnes alii contestantur. Iacet

115 Gregorius 5 tuus in telis aranearum, iacet Ambrosius 6 in 85
neglectis clericorum latibulis, iacet Augustinus 7 adiectus,

a O. quos b MS. JUias

uxorem ; cf. Gen. xxv. 20 : ' Isaac duxit uxorem Kebeccam ' ; and
xxix. 28 : ' Rachel duxit uxorem ' ; also Judges iii. 6 ; 1 Kings vii. 8 ;
xvi. 31, &c. x John iii. 5.

2 Cf. Mon. i. 11, 11. 7-8 : 'Virgo vocabatur Iustitia, quam etiam
Astraeam vocabant ' ; cf. also Purg. xxii. 71 ; and Epist. vii. 23.

8 Frov. xxx. 15.

4 The Prelate here referred to is supposed to be Gherardino
da Filattiera, a member of the Malaspina family, of the Spino
Fiorito branch, who was Bishop of Luni from 1312 to 1321. He
was an ardent Guelf, and having refused to submit to the Emperor
Henry VII, and to take part in his coronation at Milan, was
deprived of his temporal power;. this, however, after the deatli
of the Emperor he in part recovered by the aid of Castruccio
Castracani, whom he nominated viscount of the Bishopric of
Luni, July 4, 1314. For Dante's ironical exception of the Bishop
here from his condemnation of the Italian Church dignitaries,
cf. the similar exceptions in Inf. xxi. 41 : ' fuor che Bonturo ' ; and
Inf. xxix. 125 : ' Trammene Stricca'.

B Gregory the Great, Pope, 590-604 ; his chief works were the
Moralia, an exposition of the Book of Job in 35 books, his Homilies
on Ezekiel, and on the Gospels, and his Dialogues in four books on
the lives and miracles of the Italian saints.

6 St. Ambrose, 334-397 ; author of many hymns, and of exegetical
works on the Psalms and Gospel of St. Luke.

7 St. Augustine, 354-430 ; his two most famous books are the
Confessiones and De Civitate Dei, besides which Dante quotes his
De Doctrina Christiana (cf. Mon. iii. 4, 11. 60-72) and De Quantitate

nimae (cf. Epist. x. 556. and note).

EPISTOLA VIII 135

Dionysius, a ' Damascenus 2 et Beda 3 ; et nescio quod

Speculumf Innocentium, 5 et Ostiensem 6 declamant. 7

120 Cur non ? b Illi Deum quaerebant, ut finem et optimum ;

isti census et beneficia consequuntur. 90

§ 8. Sed, o Patres, ne me phoenicem extimetis c in

a 0. iacet Augustinus ; abiectus Dionysius b O. Cur enim ? e 0.
aestimetis

1 Dionysius the Areopagite, the Athenian whose conversion to
Christianity by the preaching of St. Paul is mentioned in the Acts
(xvii. 34). He was credited with the authorship of a work on the
Celestial Hierarchy, which was translated into Latin in Cent. ix
and became the mediaeval text-book of angelic lore ; and of another
on the Names of God, both of which were known to, and utilized
by, Dante. Cf. Epist. x. 405, and note.

2 John of Damascus, c. 680-756 ; his most important work was
an exposition of the orthodox faith, which was translated into
Latin in Cent. xii under the title De Fide Orthodoxa.

3 Venerable Bede, c. 673-735 ; author of an Ecclesiastical History
of England, and numerous other works, chiefiy ecclesiastical.

4 The Speculum ludiciale, commonly known as the Speculum Iuris,
a treatise on civil and canon law, written c. 1270 by Wilhelmus
Durandus (1237-96), who subsequently (1286) became Bishop of
Mende in Languedoc.

5 Probably Innocent IV, Pope, 1243-54 ; he was originally
professor of law at Bologna, and was one of the most learned
canonists of his time.

6 <Him of Ostia', that is, Henry of Susa (Enrico Bartolomei),
c. 1200-71 ; he lectured on canon law at Bologna and Paris, and
became Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia in 1261, whence he was commonly
styled Ostiensis ; his most famous work was the Summa super
titulis Decretalium, otherwise known as Summa Ostiensis. Dante
refers to him as ' Ostiense ' in Par. xii. 83.

7 With this denunciation of the Italian Cardinals for their devo-
tion to the works of the Decretalists in their temporal interests, in
preference to the works of the Fathers of the Church, cf. Par. ix.
133-5 : ' Per questo (the Florentine fiorin) 1' Evangelio e i Dottor
magni Son derelitti, e solo ai Decretali Si studia si che pare ai lor
vivagni '.

136 LETTERS OF DANTE

orbe a terrarum. 1 Omnes enim, quaegarrio, murmurant,
125 aut mussant b , aut cogitant, aut somniant 2 ; et quae
inventa non attestantur. c Nonnulli sunt in admiratione
suspensi ; an semper et hoc d silebunt, neque Factori suo 95
testimonium reddent ? Vivit Dominus, quia qui movit e
130 linguam in asina f Balaam, 3 Dominus est etiam moder-
norum brutorum.

§ 9. Iam garrulus factus sum ; vos me coegistis. 4
Pudeat ergo tam ab infra, non de coelo ut vos absolvat g 5 , 100
135 argui vel moneri. Recte quidem nobiscum agitur h6 ,

a MS. orbem b MS. musant ; 0. omits aut mussant c 0. somniant.
Et qui inventa non attesiantur? d O. et hi e 0. quique movit

f MS. asinam e MS. ut aosoluet ; 0. ut absolvat h MS. , O. agit

1 There was only supposed to be one Phoenix ; cf. Brunetto
Latini, in the Tresor : ' Fenix est uns oisiaus en Arrabe dont il n'a
plus que un sol en trestout le monde ' (i. 164).

3 On this clausula, see Parodi in Bull. Soc. JDant. Ital, N.S.
xix. 270. 3 Numb. xxii. 28-30. 4 2 Cor. xii. 11.

5 The insertion of vos, as Parodi points out (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital.,
N.S. xix. 270), rectifies the cursus, giving the velox — ' de coelo ut vos
absolvat '. •

6 The MS. and all the printed editions read agit, but this
construes very awkwardly with the pulsatur of the next line.
I feel very little doubt that Dante wrote not agit, but agitur ;
cf. Epist. vi. 96 : l Dei iudicio quandoque agi credendum est '. The
omission by a careless scribe of the 'tick' (representing r super-
script) which differentiates agitur (agif) from agit in MSS. would
account for the hitherto accepted reading. The cursus would be
a form of tardus ('nobiscum agitur') of which there are numerous
instances in Dante's letters ; it occurs, for instance, at least ten
times in Epist. vi (see Appendix C, p. 228). For the accentuation
' nobiscum ', cf. Epist. v. 145 : ' nobiscum opinari cog6tur ' ; V. E. i.
10, 1. 71 : ' nobiscum dissentire putamus ' — a form of clausula
(velox combined with planus) which is common enough in Dante's
letters (see Appendix C, p. 241). On the other hand ' vobiscum ' in
1. 49 of the present letter appears to be paroxytone : l una vobiscum '
(planus).

EPISTOLA VIII 137

quum ex ea parte pulsatur ad nos, ad quam cum caeteris
sensibus inflet auditum, ac pariat pudor in nobis poeni-
tudinem a , primogenitam suam, et haec b propositum

140 emendationis aggeneret. 105

§ 10. Quod ut gloriosa longanimitas foveat et defen-
dat, Romara urbem, nunc utroque lumine destitutam, 1

145 nunc Hannibali nedum alii c miserandam, 2 solam seden-
tem et viduam, prout superius proclamatur, qualis est,
pro modulo vestrae imaginis ante mentales oculos d 3 110
affigatis oportet. 64 Et ad vos haec sunt maxime, qui

150 sacrum Tiberim f parvuli cognovistis. 5 Nam etsi Latiale
caput pie cunctis est Italis diligendum, tamquam com-
mune suae civilitatis principium, vestrum g 6 iuste

a O. poenitentiam b MS. hoc c O. aliis d MS. oculo e O.
ante mortales oculos affigatis omnes f MS. iybrum g MS. mstra ;

O. vestras

1 Rome was deprived of her two Suns, the Pope and the
Emperor ; cf. Purg. xvi. 106-8 : ' Soleva Koma, che il buon mondo
feo, Due Soli aver, che 1' una e 1' altra strada Facean vedere, e del
mondo e di Deo \ The Papal See was vacant through the death of
Clement V on April 20, 1314 ; and the Imperial crown was in
dispute, since the death of Henry VII on August 23, 1313, between
Louis of Bavaria and Frederick of Austria.

2 For Petrarch's imitation cf this expression, see above, p. 123.

3 Cf. Epist. ii. 30, and note.

4 Dante generally uses the construction of oportet with the infini-
tive ; once (Mon. iii. 12, 1. 11) he uses it with quod and the subjunc-
tive ; the present appears to be the only instance of his use of it
with the subjunctive alone.

5 Dante now addresses himself specially to the Roman Cardinals,
who were four in number out of the six Italian Cardinals, viz.
Napoleone Orsini, Francesco Gaetani, and Jacopo and Pietro
Colonna ; of the other two, Niccolo degli Albertini was a native
of Prato, and G-uglielmo de' Longhi a native of Bergamo.

6 For this use of vestrum, cf. Ovid, Fast. iv. 889 : < Nulla mora est
operae — vestrum est dare, vincere nostrum '.

138 LETTERS OF DANTE

censetur accuratissime colere ipsum, quum sit vobis 115
155 principium ipsius quoque esse. a l Et si caeteros Italos
in praesens miseria dolore confecit et rubore confudit ;
erubescendum esse vobis, dolendum quis dubitet, qui
tantum h insolitae sui vel solis eclipsis 2 causa c fuistis ? d 3

2_ MS. cum sit uobis principium ciuilitatis esse ipsum quoque b MS.

cam ; O. causa c MS. cu d O. qui causa insolitae sui vel solis

eclipseos fuistis

1 'If Rome did not exist, you as Cardinals would have no
existence.' It is difficult to believe that Dante can have written
such a sentence as the MS. reading here (' cum sit uobis principium
ciuilitatis esse ipsum quoque '), which is moreover impossible from
the point of view of the cursus. It is no doubt a case of ' pie ', as
to which see Moore, Studies in Dante, iv. 6, 33. Moore shows how
easily a confused sentence like the above may arise — words acci-
dentally omitted by a primitive copyist, and by him (or another)
written in the margin, subsequently get inserted in the text, but
in the wrong place. The process is analogous to that by which
marginal glosses become embodied in the text. The omission of
civilitatis (which apparently was caught by the copyist from the
preceding line), and the substitution of ipsius for ipsum, are due to
Witte. It may be noted that the phrase ipsius esse, in the genitive,
occurs in Epist. x. 398.

2 The genitive eclipseos, which is substituted for the MS. reading
eclipsis by all the editors except Muzzi, is non-existent in Latin.
The regular genitive both in late and in mediaeval Latin was
eclipsis, which is the only form registered by Giovanni da Genova,
whereas he gives the alternative genitives ' -is vel -eos' for other
words of Greek origin in -is ; e. g. genesis, heresis, metamorphosis,
syntaxis.

3 For the MS. reading of this sentence, 'qui cam insolite sui uel
solis eclipsis cu fuistis ', which makes no sense, 0. following Witte
reads ' qui causa insolitae sui vel solis eclipseos fuistis '. I think
it more probable that cam is f a mistake, not for ca (i. e. causa), but
for tam (c and / being very easily confounded in MSS.), i. e. tantum,
in the sense of tam (cf. Epist. ix. 33 : ' temeraria tantum ' ; and see
Du Cange, s.v., where he quotes ' tantum lividum ' as an instance
of ' tantum pro tam ') ; and that the meaningless cu (i. e. cum) of

EPISTOLA VIII 139

160 Tu a prae omnibus, Urse, 1 ne degradati b 2 collegae 3 120

a MS. tu b MS. degrattaU ; 0. degratiati

the MS. before fuistis, which 0. omits, is a mistake for cd, i. e.
causa. This emendation restores the cursus, giving the planus,
' causa fuistis '. The meaning would be that the removal of the
Apostolic See to Avignon was an eclipse not so much of Kome as
of the Papacy itself (figured by the Sun, the greater light ; cf. Mon.
iii. 4, 11. 10-21 ; Epist. v. 169-70 ; Epist. vi. 54-5).

1 ' Filii Ursi ' was a regular Latin rendering of the name Orsini,
as appears from the Consulte Fiorentine (quoted by Del Lungo in Dal
Secolo e dal Poema di Dante, p. 469), and from the letters of Cola
di Rienzo and of Coluccio Salutati ; cf. Nicholas IIFs description
of himself in Inf. xix. 70 as ' figliuol dell' Orsa \ he being a member
of the Orsini family. The member of the family here addressed
by Dante was the GhibelKne Napoleone degli Orsini del Monte
(d. 1342), who had been created a Cardinal by Nicholas IV in 1288.
On the death of Boniface VIII in 1303 Napoleone (who, it must be
. borne in mind, in spite of his name, did not belong to the Orsini
faction), together with the Cardinal Niccolo da Prato, as leaders of
the Colonna faction, took an active part, as Villani records (viii. 80),
in securing the election of the French Pope Clement V in opposi-
tion to the Gaetani and Orsini faction, one of the motives being to
secure the restoration of the two Colonna Cardinals, Jacopo and
Pietro, who had been deprived by Boniface VIII, a matter about
whieh he had since become lukewarm, as appears from Dante's
reproaches in this passage. After his bitter experience of the
disastrous effects of Clement V's policy, as he himself acknowledges
in a letter to Philip the Fair (quoted by Witte), Napoleone was
now, in the Conclave at Carpentras, the leader of the opposition
to the Gascon party — 'capo di quella setta contro a' Guasconi',
says Villani (ix. 81) — in the hope of securing the election of an
Italian (or pro-Italian) Cardinal (see above, p. 124).

8 It seems probable that degradati, not degratiati, as in 0., is the
correct emendation of the MS. degrattati. Disgratia and disgratiatus
are registered by Du Cange, but I can find no instance of degratiatus.
On the other hand, degradare and degradatio ('poena ecclesiastica,
qua quis suo gradu privatur ') are recognized terms, and eminently
applicable to the case in point, namely degradation from the
cardinalate.

3 Jacopo and Pietro Colonna, the former (d. 1318) created a

140 LETTERS OF DANTE

perpetuo a * remanerent inglorii ; et illi, ut b militantis
Ecclesiae veneranda insignia, 2 quae forsan non emeriti c

a MS. pp ; 0. propter ie b 0. et ut illi c MS. emerit

Cardinal in 1278 by Nicholas III, the latter (d. 1326) by Nicholas IV
in 1288, had been deprived in 1297 by Boniface VIII as an incident
in his contest with their house, which culminated in his capture
at Anagni in 1303 by Sciarra Colonna, the uncle of the two
Cardinals ; Clement V had restored them to their dignity, but
sine titulo, in Dec. 1305, apparently at the time of his first creation
of Cardinals (Dec. 15). In a Bull of Clemenfs addressed from
Lyons on Jan. 2, 1306, 'Dil. filio Iacobo de Columpna Sancte
Romane ecclesie diacono cardinali ', Jacopo is referred to as ' tu
per nos reassumptus ad cardinalatus statum '.

1 The abbreviation in the MS. might stand for pcpulo, or proprio,
or propositio, of which the first alone would make any sense here,
and that not very satisfactory. I think it probable that Dante
wrote perpetuo, and that the present reading of the MS. is a corrup-
tion due to a careless or ignorant copyist. This conjecture is
confirmed by the language of Boniface VIII in his Bull of depriva-
tion (May 10, 1297), in which he says : 'prefatos Iacobum Sancte
Marie in Via Lata et Petrum Sancti Eustachii diaconos cardinales

. . . a cardinalatibus ipsis Sancte Romane Ecclesie et predictarum^
ecclesiarum deponimus ; omnibus cardinalatus seu cardinalatuum
iuribus, comodis, utilitatibus, honoribus, proventibus, fructibus,
redditibus, obventionibus et quibuscumque ad cardinalatum vel
cardinalatus ipsos spectantibus privamus perpetuo . . . reddentes
ipsos et unumquemque ipsorum perpetuo inhabiles ad apicem
apostolice dignitatis et cardinalatus honorem seu statum . . . ' (see
Begistres de Boni/ace VIII: Lettres curiales, No. 2388, ed. Digard,
Faucon et Thomas, Paris, 1884 ff.). I have consequently ventured
to adopt perpetuo in the text.

2 Cf. Epist. vii. 16-17 : < veneranda signa Tarpeia ' (of the Imperial
ensign). There is perhaps a reference here to the proclamation of
Boniface VIII of May 23, 1297, in which Jacopo and Pietro Colonna
are forbidden to use the style and insignia of Cardinal — 'cardinales
se nominare et cardinalitia portare insignia annulis et rubeis
capellis utentes ' (see Potthast, Begesta Bomanorum Pontificum,
No. 24519).

EPISTOLA VIII 141

sed immeriti coacti a posuerant, Apostolici Culminis x
165 auctoritate resumerent b . Tu quoque, Transtiberinae

sectator c factionis d alterius, 2 ut ira defuncti Antistitis 3 195

in te velut ramus insitionis in trunco non suo frondesce-
170 ret, quasi e triumphatam Carthaginem nondum exueras,

illustrium Scipionum patriae potuisti hunc animum sine

ulla tui iudicii contradictione praeferre ? f 4

§ 11. Emendabitur quidem (quamquam non sit quin 130
175 nota cicatrix infamis Apostolicam Sedem, usque ad ignem

cui coeli qui » nunc sunt et terra sunt reservati, 5 detur-

a MS. cuti b MS. resumeret c MS. septator d MS. sanctionis
e MS. Quod si f O. praeferre. g MS. quod

1 Cf. ' vestrum Culmen ', applied to the Empress in Epist. vii**.

2 ' The Transteverine faction ' was the party of the Guelfs, and
included the Orsini and Gaetani, as opposed to the Ghibelline
party, with whom the Colonnesi were identified, and whose head-
quarters were on the left bank of the Tiber (see Torraca, in Bull.
Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xvii. 175). The individual here in question
was Francesco Gaetani, nephew of Boniface VIII, by whom he
was made a Cardinal in 1295 ; he was a staunch supporter of
Boniface in his contest with the Colonnesi, and after the death
of the former continued to carry out his policy.

3 Namely, Boniface VIII (see previous note).

4 That is, ' as though thou wert at heart afoe to Eome ', Carthage
having been the secular enemy of Kome. The ' illustrious Scipios'
specially indicated would be Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
Major, 234-c. 183 b. c, the conqueror of Hannibal at the battle of
Zama, 202 b.c. (cf. Inf. xxxi. 115-17 ; Par. xxvii. 61-2 ; Conv. iv. 15,
11. 170-1 ; Mon. ii. 11, 11. 59-61) ; and his grandson by adoption,
Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Minor, c. 185-
129 b. c, by whom Carthage was taken and destroyed 146 b.c.

6 I am indebted to Dr. Heberden for pointing out that the MS.
reading of this passage (except for the blunder of quod for qui)
stands in need of no emendation, Dante evidently having had in
mind 2 Peter iii. 7: 'Coeli autem qui nunc sunt, et terra . . , igni
reservati in diem iudicii '.

142 LETTERS OF DANTE

pet), a si b unanimes omnes qui huiusmodi exorbitationis
fuistis auctores, pro Sponsa Christi, pro sede Sponsae,

180 quae Roma est, pro Italia nostra, et ut plenius dicam, 135
pro tota civitate peregrinante c in terris \ viriliter pro-
pugnetis d , ut de palaestra iam coepti certaminis, 2 undique

185 ab Oceani margine circumspecta," vosmetipsos cum gloria
offerentes, audire possitis : ' Gloria in excelsis ' 4 ; et ut
Vasconum opprobrium, qui tam dira cupidine confla- 140
grantes Latinorum gloriam sibi usurpare contendunt,

190 per e saecula cuncta futura sit posteris in exemplum. 5

a 0. qvamquam non sit quin nota cicatrixque infamis Apostolicam Sedem
usserit ad ignem, et cui coeli et ierra sunt reservati, deturpet b MS. Sin
c MS. peregrinate ; 0. peregrinmitium d MS. propungniatis e MS.pro

1 Heb. xi. 13.

2 This reference to ' the contest that is already begun ' makes it
probable that the letter was written in the early days of the
Conclave (see above, p. 126).

3 Moore suggests (Studies in Dante, iii. 114, n. 5) that the real
reading here may be circvmsepta, as Dante's words seem to be an
echo of the phrase of Orosius : ' orbem totius terrae, oceani limbo
circumseptum ' (i. 2, § 1).

4 Luke xix. 38.

5 Dante may have had in mind here the words of Boniface VIII
in the Bull of May 10, 1297, already quoted, where he says : 'sicut
deficit fumus deficiant, et sicut fluit cera a facie ignis sic pereant
peccatores in malo, exultent iusti in conspectu Dei et in letitia
delectentur, habentibus virtute premium et culpa supplicium
transiens posteris in exemplum, ex ore sedentis in trono procedente
gladio bis acuto ' {Registres de Boniface VIII, No. 2388). By the irony
of fate the successor of Clement V was yet another French Pope,
John XXII, a native of Cahors, who is coupled with Clement in
Dante's denunciation (by the mouth of St. Peter) of their avarice
and extortions in Par. xxvii. 58-9.

\<

EPISTOLA VIII 143

Translation
[To the Italian Cardinals Dante ofFlorence, ^c.]

§ 1. ' How doth the city sit solitary that was full of
people ! She is become as a widow that was great among
the nations.' The greed aforetime of the chiefs of the
Pharisees, which made the ancient priesthood an abomi-
nation, not only did away the ministry of the children of
Levi, but moreover brought siege and destruction on the
chosen city of David. And when He, who alone is eternal,
beheld this thing from his eternal watch-tower on high, by
his Holy Spirit He laid his command upon the mind
worthy of God of a man that was a prophet, and in the
words above written, alas ! too often repeated, lamented
over holy Jerusalem as a city undone.

§ 2. We too who confess the same Father and Son, the
same God and Man, yea, the same Mother and Virgin, we
for whose sake and for whose salvation thrice was the
question repeated concerning love and it was said : ' Peter,
feed my sheep ', that is to say the sacred fold, Rome, to
which, after so many triumphs and glories, Christ by
word and deed confirmed the empire of the world, that
Rome which the same Peter, and Paul the preacher to the
Gentiles, by the sprinkling of their own blood consecrated
as the Apostolic See, over her, widowed and abandoned,
we, who come not after the woes we have to bewail, but
now mourn in consequence of them, are, like Jeremiah,
constrained to lament.

§ 3. It grieves us, alas ! no less to witness the lamen-
table plague of heresies, than that the fomenters of impiety,
Jews, Saracens, and Gentiles, make a mock of our Sab-
baths, and, as is said, cry out ' Where is their God ? '
and that perchance the renegade Powers ascribe this to
their own wiles against the protecting Angels. And,
more horrible still, certain readers of the stars and
ignorant prophets declare that to be of necessity, which
you, making ill use of your freedom of will, have preferred
of your own choice.

§ 4/But 3'ou, who aie as it were the centurions of the

l/

144 LETTERS OF DANTE

front rank of the Church militant, neglecting to guide the
chariot of the Spouse of the Crucified along the .track
which lay before you, have gone astray from the track, no
otherwise than as the false charioteer Phaethon. And
you, whose duty it was to enlighten the flock that follows
you through the forest on its pilgrimage here below, have
brought it along with yourselves to the verge of the
precipice?y Nor do I recount examples for your imitation,
seeing that you turn your backs, not your faces, to the
car of the Spouse, and verily might be likened to them
that were shown to the prophet with their backs turned
towards the temple ; you who scorn the fire sent down
from heaven upon the altars, which now are alight with
strange fire ; you who sell cloves in the temple where that
which cannot be measured by price is made merchandise
to the hurt of them that come and go therein. But give
heed to the scourge, give heed to the fire ; and make not\
light of the patience of Him who awaits your repentance. \
But if you doubt as to the precipice whereof I have spoken,
what else can I answer to enlighten you but that like
Demetrius you have consented unto Alcimus ?

§ 5. Perchance in indignant rebuke you will ask : 'And
who is this man who, not fearing the sudden punishment
of Uzzah, sets himself up to protect the Ark, tottering
though it be ?*>^erily I am one of the least of the sheep
of the pasture of Jesus Christ ; verily I abuse no pastoral
authority, seeing that I possess no riches. By the grace,
therefore, not of riches, but of God, I am what I am, and
the zeal of His house hath eaten me up. For even from
the mouth of babes and sucklings has been heard the
truth well pleasing to God ; and he who was born blind
confessed the truth, which the Pharisees not only con-
cealed, but in their malice even strove to pervert. These
are the justification for my boldness. And besides these
I have the authority of the Philosopher, who in his system
of morals taught that truth is to be preferred even before
friendship.N Nor does the presumption of Uzzah, which
some may tnink should be laid to my charge, infect me,
as though I had been rash in my utterance, with the

EPISTOLA VIII 145

taint of his guilt. For he gave heed to the Ark, I to the
unruly oxen that are dragging it away into the wilderness.
May He give succour to the Ark, who opened his eyes to
bring salvation to the labouring ship !

§ 6. It seems then that I have provoked no one to
railing ; but rather that I have kindled the blush of con-
fusion in you and in others, chief-priests in name only (if
so be that shame has not been wholly rooted out throughout'
the world), since among so many who usurp the office
of shepherd, among so many sheep who, if not driven
away, at least are neglected and left untended in the
pastures, one voice alone, one alone of filial piety, and
that of a private individual, is heard at the obsequies as it
were of Mother Church.

§ 7. And what wonder ?^Each one has taken avarice to
wife, even as you yourselves have done; avarice, the
mother never of piety and righteousness, but ever of
impiety and unrighteousness. Ah ! most loving Mother,
Spouse of Christ, that by water and the spirit bearest sons
unto thy shame! Not charity, not Astraea, but the
daughters of the horseleech have become thy daughters-in-
law. And what offspring they bear thee all save the
Bishop of Luni bear witness. Your Gregory lies among
the cobwebs. ; Ambrose lies forgofen in tneimpboards of
the clergy, and Augustine along with him ; and Dionysius,
ITamascenus, and Bede ; and they cry up instead I know
-not what Speculum, and Innocent, and him of Ostia. And
why not ? Those sought after God as their end and highest
good ; these get for themselves riches and benefices^

§ 8. But, my Fathers, suppose not that I am a phoenix
in the wide world. For every one is murmuring, or
muttering, or thinking, or dreaming, what I cry aloud ;
but they do not testify to what they have seen. Some
there are who remain lost in wonder ; but will they for
ever hold their peace, nor bear witness to their Maker ?
The Lord liveth, for He who moved the tongue of
Balaam's ass, He is the Lord also of the brutes of to-day.

§ 9. Now am I constrained to lift up my voice : ye
have compelled me. Be ye therefore ashamed to receive

146 LETTERS OF DANTE

rebuke and admonishment from so lowly a source, and
not from Heaven, which may pardon you. In the right
fashion indeed are we dealt with when we are smitten on
that side by which shame can reach our hearing as well
as the rest of our senses, and beget in us repentance, her
first-born, who in turn shall give birth to purpose of
amendment.

§ 10. And that a glorious patience may foster and
maintain this purpose, it behoves you to keep before the
eyes of your mind, according to the measure of your
imagination, the present condition of the city of Eome,
a sight to move the pity even of Hannibal, not to say
others, bereft as she now is of the one and the other of
her luminaries, and sitting solitary and widowed, as is
written above. And this most chiefly is the concern of
you who have known sacred Tiber as little children. Sor
although it is the duty of all Italians to love the capital
of Italy as the common source of their civility, yet is it
justly held to be your part most especially to reverence it,
since for you it is the source also of your very beingT^
And if at the present time misery has consumed with
grief and confounded with shame the rest of the inhabi-
tants of Italy, who can doubt but that you must blush
with shame, and must grieve, who have been the cause of
-' j so unwonted an eclipse of Eome or rather of her Sun ?
Thou above all, Orsini, that thy colleagues who have been ,
degraded should not continue for ever stripped of their
glory ; and they, that by the authority of the Apostolic
Head they should resume the venerable insignia of the
Church Militant, which, not as perchance having com-
pleted their service, but undeservedly, they were com-
pelled to lay down. Thou also, the adherent of the other
Transteverine faction, in order that the wrath of the
deceased pontiff might put forth leaves in thee, like
a branch engrafted on a trunk not its own, as if thou
hadst not yet put off the Carthage that was conquered of
old, couldst thou, without the reproof of thy better judge-
ment, prefer this purpose before the country of the
illustrious Scipios?

^,

EPISTOLA VIII 147

§11. There will be amendment, however (although it
cannot-be but that the scar of infamy will disfigure with
its mark the Apostolic See even until the fire for which
the heavens that how are and the earth have been
reserved), if you all, who were the authors of this devia-
tion from the track, with one accord shall fight manfully
for the Spouse of Christ, for the seat of the Spouse, which
is Kome, for our Italy, and, to speak more at large, for
the whole body politic now in pilgrimage on earth, so that
from the wrestling-ground (surveyed on every side from
the shores of ocean) of the contest that is already begun,
offering yourselves with glory, you may be able to hear
1 Glory in the highest ', and that the reproach of the
Gascons, who, burning with abominable lust, strive to
usurp for themselves the glory of the Itatians, may be an
example to posterity for all ages to come. )

l2

148

EPISTOLA IX

( f In literis vestris')

To a Friend in Florence
[May, 1315]

MSS. — This letter, like the preceding and that to a Pistojan
Exile (Epist. iii (iv)), has been preserved only in the Laurentian
MS. (Cod. xxix. 8) ; like them it is in the handwriting of
Boccaccio, by whom it was transcribed probably about the year
1348. 1 .

Printed Texts. 2 — 1. Gr. J. Dionisi (1790) : in Serie di Aned-
doti (Verona, 1790; vol. v, pp. 176-7). 2. Dionisi (1806):
(emended text) in Preparazione istorica e critica alla nuova
edizione di Dante Allighieri (Verona, 1806; vol. i, pp. 71— 3)^
3. F. Cancellieri (1814) : in Osservazioni sopra VOriginalita della
Divina Commedia di Dante (Rome, 1814 ; pp. 59-60). 4. F. De
Romanis (1817) : in notes to Tiraboschi's Vita di Dante, in
Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri (Roma, 1815-17 ; vol. iv,
pp. 46-7). s 5. Ugo Foscolo (1818) : in article on Cancellieri's
Osservazioni, in Ediriburgh Review (Sept. 1818; pp. 350-1).
6. Ugo Foscolo (1823) : in Essays on Petrarch (London, 1823 ;
pp. 276-7). 7. G. Pelli (1823) : in Memorieper servire alla Vita
di Dante (Firenze, 1823; p. 204). 8. Witte (1827) : Epist. viii
(op. cit., pp. 65-6). 9. Fraticelli (1840) : Epist. v (op. cit., pp.
282-6). 10. Torri (1842): Epist. xiii (op. cit., pp. 96-8).
11. Muzzi (1845) : Epist. iii, in Tre Epistole Latine di Dante
Allighieri restituite a piu vera lezione (Prato, 1845; pp. 23-5).

1 See introductory note to Epist. iii (iv) (p. 19).

2 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, pp. 1 -2.

3 For other editions of the Commedia in which the letter is
printed, see Koch, Catalogue ofthe Cornell Dante Collection, vol. i, p. 57.

EPISTOLA IX 149

12. Fraticelli (1857) : Epist. x (op. cit., pp. 524-6). 1 13. Giu-
liani (1882) : Epist. ix (op. cit., pp. 32-3). 2 14. Bartoli (1884) :
in Storia della Letteratura Italiana (vol. v, pp. 288-9). 15. Scar-
tazzini (1890) : in Prolegomeni della Divina Commedia (pp. 133-4).
16. Moore (1894): Epist. ix (op. cit., pp. 413-14). 17. Della
Torre (1905) : (diplomatic transcript of the MS. text) in Bullet-
tino della Societa Dantesca Italiana (N.S. xii. 122-3). 18. Pas-
serini(1910): Epist. ix (op. cit., pp. 96-100). 19. PagetToynbee
(1916) : (diplomatic transcript of the MS. text, together with
collations of the various readings of the printed editions of the
letter, and a list of proposed emendations in the Oxford text) in
Modern Language Review (vol. xi, pp. 62-6). 20. Paget Toynbee
(1916) : (emended text) in Modem Language Review (vol. xi,
pp. 66-7). 21. E. Pistelli (1915): (revised text, with notes) in
Piccola Antologia della Bibbia Volgata . . . con alcune Epistole di
2>awte...(Firenze,1915; pp. 219-21). 22. [DellaTorre] (1917):
Epist. xvi (op. cit., pp. 282-4).

Translations. 3 — Iialian. 1 . Dionisi (1790) : op. cit., pp. 177-
8. 2. Dionisi (1806) : (revised trans.) op. cit., pp. 73-5. 3. C.
Ugoni (1825) : in Saggi sopra il Petrarca (translation of Foscolo's
Essays on Petrarch) (Firenze, 1825 ; pp. 184-6). 4. Balbo
(1839): op. cit., pp. 386-7. 5. Fraticelli (1840): op. cit, pp.
283-7. 6. Ugoni (1842): (revised trans.) in Torri, op. cit.,
pp. 97-9. 7. Muzzi (1845): op. cit., pp. 34-5. 8. Fraticelli
(1857) : (revised trans.) op. cit., pp. 525-7. 9. Giuliani (1882) :
(§§ 2-4 only) op. cit., p. 167. 10. N. Zingarelli (1903) : in
Dante (Milano, 1903 ; pp. 298-9). 11. Passerini (1910) : op. cit.,
pp. 97-101. 12. Scherillo (1918): (extracts) op. cit., vol. i,
p. 182. — English. 1. Ugo Foscolo (1818) : in Edinburgh Review

1 The principal divergences of Fraticelli's text from that of the
MS. were registered by Zenatti, in Dante e Firenze (p. 532).

2 The divergences of Giuliani's text from that of the MS. were
registered by G. Mazzoni, in the Bullettino della Socieia Dantesca
Italiana, N.S. v. 98, n. 1.

3 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
above, and p. 2.

150 LETTERS OF DANTE

(Sept. 1818; p. 350). 2. Foscolo (1823): (revised trans.) in
Essays on Petrarch, pp. 202-3. 1 3. J. Montgomery (1835) :
(§§ 3-4) in Life of Dante, in Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia
(Biographtj) (London, 1835; vol. i, p. 31). 4. I. C. Wright
(1845) : (§§ 3-4) in Memoir of Dante, in translation of the
Divina Commedia (London, 1845 ; vol. i, pp. xiii-xiv). 5. F. J.
Bunbury (1852) : in Life and Times of Dante Alighieri (London,
1852 ; vol. ii, pp. 215-17). 6. R. de Vericour (1858) : in Life
and Times of Dante (London, 1858; pp. 182-4). 7. Anonymous
(1858): in Eclectic Review (Dec. 1858 ; vol. iv, N. S., pp. 496-7).
8. J. R. Lowell (1859): (§§ 3-4) in article on Dante in Appleton's
New American Cyclopaedia, reprinted in Fifth Annual Report of
the Cambridge (U.S.A.) Dante Society, 1886, p. 22. 9. V. Botta
(1865) : in Dante as a Philosopher, Patriot and Poet (New York,
1865; London, 1887; pp. 106-7). 10. M. F. Rossetti (1871) 2 :
(§§ 3-4) in A Shadow of Dante (London, 1871 ; ed. 1872, p. 29).
11. M. Creighton (1873) : (§§ 3-4) in Macmillarfs Magazine, vol.
xxix (1873), reprinted in Historical Essays and Revieivs (London,
1902; p. 21). 12. M. Oliphant (1876): (§§ 3-4) in Makers of
Florence (London, 1876; ed. 1885, pp. 88-9). 13. Latham
(1891): op. cit., pp. 184-6. 14. Wicksteed (1898): in A Pro-
insional Translation of Dante's Political Letters (pp. 29-30).
15. J. F. Hogan (1899): (§§ 3-4) in Life and Works of Dante
Allighieri (London, 1899 ; p. 49). 16. Wicksteed (1904) : (re-
vised trans.) in Translation of the Latin WorTcs of Dante Alighieri
(pp. 340-1). 17. Paget Toynbee (1916) : in Modern Language
Revieiv, vol. xi, pp. 67-8 (see helow, pp. 158-9). — German. 1.
Kannegiesser (1845) : op. cit., pp. 208-9. 2. Scartazzini (1879) :
in Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein Leben und seine Werke
(pp. 419-20). 3. Wegele (1879) : in Dante AlighierVs Leben
und Werke (pp. 275-6). — French. Comtesse Horace de Choiseul
(1911): (§§ 2-4) in Dante: Le Purgatoire (Paris, 1911 ; pp. vi-
vii).

1 For reprints of Foscolo's translation, see Koch, op. cit., p. 75.

2 D. G. Kossetti embodied a poetical paraphrase of §§ 3-4 of the
letter in his poem Dante at Verona (in Poems, ed. 1870, pp. 100-1).

EPISTOLA IX 151

Authenticity. — The authenticity of this letter, which was
regarded at one time, if not as an undoubtedTorgery, at any rate
with grave suspicion, 1 is now generally accepted. 2 The letter was
utilized by Boccaccio in his Vita di Dante (which was written
about the year 1357, some nine years after he had transcribed
the letter in the MS.mentioned above 3 ), in the chapter headed
Qualita e Difetti di Dante :

' Fu il nostro poeta, oltra alle cose predette, di animo alto e
disdegnoso molto ; tanto che cercandosi per alcuno suo amico il
quale a istanza de' suoi prieghi il faceva, ch' egli potesse ritor-
nare in Firenze (il che egli oltre ad ogni altra cosa sommamente
desiderava) ne trovandosi a cio alcun modo con coloro li quali
il governo della republica allora aveano nelle mani, se non' uno,
il quale era questo, che egli per certo spazio stesse in prigione,
e dopo quello in alcuna solennita publica fosse misericordie-
volemente alla nostra principale chiesa offerto, e per conseguente
libero e fuori d' ogni condennagione per adrieto fatta di lui ; la
qual cosa parendogli convenirsi e usarsi in qualunche e depressi
e non infami uomini e non in altri, perche oltre al suo maggiore
desiderio, preelesse di stare in esilio, anzi che per cotal via
tornare in casa sua. isdegno laudevole di magnanimo, quan-
to virilmente operasti riprimendo V ardente disio del ritornare
per via meno che degna a uomo nel grembo della filcsofia
notricato ! ' *

1 For instance, Scaitazzini in his Prolegomeni della Divina Commedia
describes it as ' veementemente sospetta ' (p. 138). For a refuta-
tion of Scartazzini's arguments, see Mazzoni, in Bidl. Soc. Dant. Ital,
N.S. v. 98-100; Torraca, Nuove Rassegne, pp. 263-9; and especially
the exhaustive article of Della Torre, in Butl. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S.
xii. 121 ff.

8 See Barbi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xi. 29. 3 See p. 19.

4 Ed. Macri-Leone, § 12. In the so-called Compendio, which
Barbi has proved to be a revised version bf the Vita, due to
Boccaccio himself (see his article in Studii su Giovanni Boccaccio,
Castelfiorentino, 1913, pp. 101-41), the account is much briefer :
1 Fu adunque il nostro Poeta, oltre alle cose di sopra dette, d' animo
altiero e disdegnoso molto, tanto che cercandosi per alcuno amico
come egli potesse in Firenze tornare, ne altro modo trovandosi, se
non che egli per alcuno spazio di tempo stato in prigione, fosse
misericordievolmente offerto a San Giovanni, fu per lui a cio, ogni
fervente disio del ritornare calcato, risposto, che Iddio togliesse

152 LETTERS OF DANTE

Date. — The date of the letter is fixed approximately by
Dante's reference to his having been in exile for nearly fifteen
years (' per trilustrium fere perpessus exilium ', 1. 29). The first
sentence of banishment issued by Cante de' Gabrielli, the then
Podesta, was dated Jan. 27, 1302 ; and the second was on
March 10 of the same year ; so that the terminus ad quem would
be the beginning of 1317. Until recently it was supposed that
the amnesty referred to in the letter was that of June 2, 1316.
But it has been shown by Barbi that all the exiles condemned
by Cante de' Gabrielli were expressly excluded from this am-
nesty, Dante consequently among them. 1 The amnesties of
Sept. 3 and Dec. 11, 1316, are equally out of the question, in
that they were not general amnesties, but only extended to
certain specified persons, among whom Dante was not included. 2
It is concluded, therefore, that the amnesty in question in the
letter is that of May 19, 1315, in the terms of which Dante
would be implicitly included. 3 The letter, then, was probably
written towards the end of May, 1315. 4

Addressee. — It appears from 11. 13-14 of the letter that
Dante and his correspondent were relatives, as they had
a nephew in common ; further, from the fact that Dante twice
addresses him as 'Pater' (11. 22, 41), and speaks of having
received his letter 'with due reverence' (11. 1-2), it has been

via, che alcuno che nel seno della filosofia allevato e cresciuto fosse,
divenisse candelotto del suo comune ' (ed. Rostagno, § 22).

1 See Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. ii. 16-17, where the terms of the
1 ribandimento ' of June 2, 1316, are quoted, among those excluded
being ' omnes et singuli qui quacumque de causa per dominum
Cantem de Gabriellibus de Eugubio, olim potestatem Florentie, vel
eius vicarium, fuerunt condempnati et exbanniti seu condempnati
tantum aut exbanniti infra tempus infrascriptum, videlicet a
kallendis novembris sub anno Domini millesimo trecentesimo
primo usque ad kallendas Iulii tunc subsequentis sub anno Domini
millesimo trecentesimo secundo '.

2 See Barbi, loc. cit, p. 17.

3 See Barbi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xi. 26 ff.

4 See Della Torre, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xii. 150 ff.

EPISTOLA IX 153

concluded that the addressee was a priest. These considerations
have led to the conjectural identification of the addressee with
a brother-in-law of Dante, namely Teruccio di Manetto Donati, 1
a brother of Gemma, Dante's wife, who was a member of
a religious order and a bachelor of divinity. Their common
nephew in that case would be Niccolo Donati, son of Foresino
(or Forese) di Manetto Donati, another brother of Gemma's. 2

Summary. — § 1. Dante acknowledges receipt of his corre-
spondenfs letter, and expresses his gratitude for the interest
he has shown in his recall from exile ; and he begs that his
reply may not be hastily judged. § 2. He understands from
letters received from a common nephew and from other friends
that he will be allowed to return to Florence on certain
degrading conditions. §3. Is this then the gracious recall
that he, an innocent man, was to look for after all these years
of exile ? Far be it from him to accept such terms ! § 4. If he
may return to Florence on honourable conditions, well and
good— if not, then he will never return. Assuredly he will find
means to pursue his studies and win his bread elsewhere, with-
out being obliged to render himself an object of contempt in
the eyes of his fellow-citizens !

[Amico Florentmo.f'

§ 1. In literis vestris, et reverentia debita et affectione

receptis, quam repatriatio mea curae sit vobis et b animo,

5 grata mente ac diligenti animadversione c concepi ; et

inde tanto me districtius obligastis, quanto rarius exules

invenire amicos contingit. Ad illarum vero significata 5

MS. = Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8 0. = Oxford Dante

a There is no title in MS. ; 0. prints title without brackets
b 0. ex c MS. animauersione

1 See Imbriani, Studi Danteschi, p. 410.

2 See Della Torre, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xii. 157-60 ; and
Imbriani, op. cit, p. 410, n. 4.

154 LETTERS OF DANTE

responsio, etsi non erit a qualem h forsan pusillanimitas
10 appeteret aliquorum, ut sub examine vestri consilii ante
iudicium ventiletur, affectuose deposco.

§ 2. Ecce igitur quod per literas vestri meique nepotis, 1

15 nec non aliorum quamplurium amicorum, significatum 10

est mihi per ordinamentum nuper factum Florentiae super

absolutione bannitorum 2 : quod si solvere vellem certam

pecuniae quantitatem, 3 vellemque pati notam oblationis, 4

a MS. erat b 0. Ad illarum vero significata respondeo ; et si responsio
non erit qualiter

1 This nephew, as stated above in the introductory note, was
perhaps Niccolo di Foresino di Manetto Donati, the son of a brother
of Dante's wife Gemma. He was an adult at this time, for he
took part in the battle of Montecatini (Aug. 29, 1315) ; he is known
to have been in intimate relations with Dante's fariiily, and there
is reason to believe that his aunt Gemma, Dante's widow, died in
his house (see Della Torre, Bull. Soc. Bant. Ital, N.S. xii. 158-9).

2 That is, the amnesty of May 19, 1315 (see note on date above).
5 On the probable amount of this fine, see Bull. Soc. Bant. Ital,

N.S. xi. 26, and xii. 154-5.

4 The oblatio (or 'offering') was a ceremony which had to be
performed by malefactors, or political offenders after condemna-
tion, as a condition of pardon. If a malefactor, he was conducted
from the prison where he had been confined, clothed in sack-cloth,
with a mitre on his head, and a candle in his hand, to the
Baptistery of San Giovanni, where he was solemnly offered by
an approved sponsor at the altar to God and to the Baptist. An
individual who had been condemned for a political offence, if not
actually a prisoner, was obliged to constitute himself one technically
by crossing the threshold of a prison, whence he was conducted to
the Baptistery ; but the wearing a mitre and other degrading
conditions were usually dispensed with in such a case. Cf. the
following extract from the Prowisione of June 2, 1316: 'possint
eisque liceat intrari in carceribus Stincharum seu Vollognani aut
in quocumque alio carcere dicti Comunis Florentie, et postquam
fuerint in claustro seu intra muros circumdantes aliquem ipsorum
carcerum, non obstante eo quod ipsi non scribantur per notarium

EPISTOLA IX 155

et absolvi 1 possem et redire ad praesens. In qua a ' 2
quidem duo 3 ridenda et male praeconsiliata sunt, Pater 4 ; 15
dico male praeconsiliata per illos qui talia expresserunt,

a 0. quo

qui scribere debet carceratos qui in dictis carceribus consignantur ;
et post modum ad voluntatem et beneplacitum eorum et cuiuslibet
eorum exire possint seu extrahantur relaxentur et liberentur per
superstites aut illum vel illos qui ad custodiam ipsorum carcerum
seu alicuius eorum quomodolibet deputati essent licite et impune
et sine aliquo eorum preiudicio et gravamine de carceribus et
a carceribus antedictis ; et subsequenter a loco ipsorum carcerum
usque ad ecclesiam beati Iohannis ducantur, seu ire possint, absque
aliqua mitera seu miteris in capite vel aliter quomodocumque
habendis et defferendis ; ibidemque apud altare ipsius ecclesie
beati Iohannis per quamcumque personam seu personas eisdem
vel alicui eorum placuerit Deo et beato Iohanni pro Comuni
Florentie offerantur et offerri possint et debeant, et per modum
et viam oblationis eximantur relaxentur liberentur et absolvantur'
(quoted by Barbi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xi. 29 n.) — see also
Zenatti, Dante e Firenze, pp. 509, n. 1, 512-14 ; and Consulte Fiorentine
for March 22, 1289, and April 3, 1292 (ed. Gherardi, vol. i, p. 386 ;
vol. ii, p. 175). The mitre appears to have been of paper, and to
have had the name of the delinquent and his crime inscribed upon
it. Du Cange (s. v. mitra) quotes the following from the statutes of
the city of Mantua : ' Falsum committens . . . mitretur cum mitra
papiri, in qua sit scriptum nomen et praenomen ipsius mitrati, et
cognomen et agnomen, et causa qua sit mitratus, et per totam
civitatem Mantuae ducatur per loca publica dictae civitatis . . . '

1 The technical word — see the Prowisione of June 2, 1316, quoted
inthe previous note (ad fin.) : 'per modum et viam oblationis
eximantur relaxentur liberentur et absolvantur* ; cf. also the
Provvisione of Sept. 28, 1300, quoted by Zenatti (op. cit., p. 510 n.),
and that of Feb. 10, 1309 (relating to the father of Petrarca) :
'eximatur liberetur et absolvatur, et eximi liberari et absolvi
possit et debeat per viam et modum oblationis ' (op. cit., p. 513).

3 That is, l absolutione bannitorum ', as Della Torre observes.

3 That is, the payment of a fine, and the presentation at the
oblatio, as appears from 11. 32 9.

4 See introductory note on the addressee of the letter.

156 LETTERS OF DANTE

25 nam vestrae literae discretius et consultius clausulatae
nihil de talibus continebant.

§ 3. Estne ista revocatio gratiosa* 1 , qua Dantes
Alagherii b revocatur ad patriam, per trilustrium fere 20

30 perpessus exilium ? 2 Hocne meruit innocentia mani-
festa quibuslibet? Hoc sudor et labor continuatus in
studio ? Absit a viro philosophiae domestico temeraria
tantum c 3 cordis humilitas, ut more cuiusdam Cioli 4 et

a O. gloriosa b MS. allagherii ; 0. Aligherius c 0. terreni

1 The MS. reading grosa can only stand for gratiosa ; not for
gloriosa (with Dionisi, &c, followed by 0.), which would be glosa
in MS. ; nor for generosa (with Muzzi and Della Torre), which
would be gnosa. (See my note on A misreading in Dante's Letter to
a Friend in Florence, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xx, pp. 58-9.)

2 This reference approximately fixes the date of the letter,
Dante having been sentenced at the beginning of 1302 (see intro-
ductory note on date).

3 The MS. reading is in a sense indeterniinate, as it may stand
for either tm, or tni, or tin. The last is out of the question here.
The second, in order to represent terreni (the reading of Dionisi, &c,
followed by 0.), should have a loop after the t, which, however,
might have been accidentally omitted by the scribe. The normal
solution of tm is tantum, which word seems to be required by the
construction as the correlative of the ut of 1. 34. For tantum in the
sense of tam, see note on Epist. viii. 158.

4 This 'Ciolus' has been identified with Ciolo degli Abati, who
was condemned in 1291, and presented at the oblatio in or before
1295. This same Ciolo, alone of his house, was expressly excepted
by name (f omnes de domo de Abbatibus, excepto Ciolo ') from the
decree of Sept. 2, 1311, known as the 'Riforma di messer Baldo
d' Aguglione ', issued against the contumacious exiles, of whom
Dante was one. He is known to have been alive in July, 1313,
two years before the presumed date of this letter. His misdeeds
appear to have become proverbial in Florence. (See Della Torre,
ia Bull. Soc. Dant. ItaL, N.S. xii. 162-72 ; and Del Lungo, DelV Esilio
di Dante, p. 137 ; and Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica, iii. 289, n. 24.)

EPISTOLA IX 157

35 aliorum infamium, quasi vinctus a l ipse se patiatur 25
offerri ! 2 Absit a viro praedicante iustitiam ut perpessus
iniurias, iniuriam inferentibus, velut benemerentibus,
pecuniam suam solvat !

40 § 4. Non est haec via redeundi ad patriam, Pater mi ;
sed si alia per vos antecedenter b 3 , deinde per alios in- 30
venitur, quae famae Dantisque honori non deroget,

a MS., 0. victus b MS. autem; O. aut c 0. Dantis atque

1 The MS. reading victus may not improbably, by the accidental
omission of the stroke over the i (representing n), be a copyistfs
error ibr vinctus, the sense of which ('like a prisoner in bonds') is
much more appropriate to the context than that of victus (which
would imply rather a prisoner of war) ; the point being that the
person who was presented at the oblatio, as a preliminary to being
pardoned, was either actually or technically a prisoner (see note on
oblatio, p. 154, n. 4).

2 This again, like absolvi in 1. 21, is the technical word ; cf. the
extract from the Provvisione of June 2, 1316, quoted in note on
oblatio : l Deo et beato Iohanni pro Comuni Florentie offerantur
et offerri possint et debeant ' ; and that of Feb. 10, 1309, quoted by
Zenatti (op. cit., p. 514) : ' Deo et B. Iohanni pro Com. Florent.
offeratur et offerri possit et debeat '.

* The MS. reading is aut, with a stroke over it, which is the
normal abbreviation of autem ; but as autem cannot possibly be
the correct reading, the early editors one and all substituted aut.
As u and n are almost indistinguishable in MSS., Della Torre
proposes to read ante, which is adopted in the text by Passerini
and Pistelli ; but the recognized abbreviation of ante is an (with
a stroke over the n), and it is so written in this MS. where the
word occurs at the beginning of the letter (1. 11, * ante iudicium ').
On the other hand, it has been pointed out by Eostagno that ant
with a loop over the t is the regular abbreviation of antecedenter.
As this word suits the sense, and its adoption involves only a very
slight departure from the MS. reading, antecedenter seems preferable
to ante. One or other of these would appear to be required as the
correlative to the following deinde. (See BuU. Soc. Bant. Ital., N.S.
xii. 125 n.)

158 LETTERS OF DANTE

45 illam non lentis passibus acceptabo. Quod si per nullam
talem Florentia introitur, nunquam Florentiam introibo.
Quidni ? nonne a solis astrorumque specula ubique con-
spiciam ? Nonne dulcissimas veritates potero speculari 35

50 ubique sub coelo, niprius inglorium, immo ignominiosum,
populo Florentino, civitati b me reddam ? Quippe nec
panis deficiet.

* MS. non b 0. populo Florentinaeque civitati

Translation
[To a Friend in Florence.]

§ 1. From your letter, which I received with due respect
and affection, and have diligently studied, I learn with
gratitude how my recall to Florence has been the object
of your care and concern ; and I am the more beholden
to you therefor, inasmuch as it rarely happens that an
exile finds friends. My reply to what you have written,
although perchance it be not of such tenour as certain
faint hearts would desire, I earnestly beg may be carefully
examined and considered by you before judgement be
passed upon it.

§ 2. I gather, then, from the letter of your nephew and
mine, as well as from those of sundry other friends, that,
by the terms of a decree lately promulgated in Florence
touching the pardon of the exiles, I may receive pardon,
and be permitted to return forthwith, on condition that
jl pay a certain sum of money, and submit to the stigma
pf the oblation — two propositions, my Father, which in
pooth are as ridiculous as they are ill-advised — ill-advised,
Ithat is to say, on the part of those who have com-
municated them, for in your letter, which was more
discreetly and cautiously formulated, no hint of such
conditions was conveyed.

§ 3. This, then, is the gracious recall of Dante Alighieri

jfb his native city, after the miseries of well-nigh fifteen

\fcears of exile ! This is the reward of innocence manifest

EPISTOLA IX 159

to all the world, and of the sweat and toil of unremitting
study ! Far be from a familiar of philosophy such a sense-
less act of abasement as to submit himself to be presented
at the oblation, like a felon in bonds, as one Ciolo and
other infamous wretches have done ! Far be it from the
preacher of justice, after suffering wrong, to pay of his
money to those that wronged him, as though they had
d«seryed well of him !

^h*C No ! my father, not by this path will I return to
my native city. If some other can be found, in the first
place by yourself and thereafter by others, which does not
derogate fiom the fame and honour of Dante, that will
I tread with no lagging steps. But if by no such path
Florence may be entered, then will I enter Florence never.
What ! can I not any where gaze upon the face of the sun
and the stars ? can I not under any sky contemplate the
most precious truths, without I first return to Florence,
disgraced, nay dishonoured, in the eyes of my fellow-
citizens ? Assuredly bread will not fail me !V

160

EPISTOLA X

( e Inclyta vestrae Magnificentiae laus')
To Can Grande della Scala

[c. 1319]

MSS.— This letter has been preserved, in whole or in part, in
six MS. texts, two of Cent. xv, which contain the first four
sections only (that is, the strictly epistolary portion) of the
letter, namely, Cod. Ambrosiano C. 145. Inf. at Milan (A.), and
Cod. Lat. 78 at Munich (M.) * ; and four of Cent. xvi, three of
which contain the whole letter, namely, Cod. Mediceo (forming
part of the Carie Strozziane) in the Archivio di Stato at Florence
(Me.), Cod. Magliabechiano vi. 164 at Florence (M. 1 ), and Cod.
314 in the Capitular Library at Verona (V.), while the fourth
(M. 2 ), which is preserved in the same Cod. Magliabechiano which
contains the complete text, is incomplete, sections 4-6, and
28-32 inclusive, being wanting. 2

1 The preamble (' Praefari aliqua '), which is prefixed to the
letter in the other four MSS., is also wanting in these two MSS.
(see Introduction (p. xli-ii).

2 For the above account of the MSS. containing the letter I am
indebted to the exhaustive article of G. Boffito published in 1907
in the Transactions of the Eeale Accademia delle Scienze of Turin
{V Epistola di Dante Alighieri a Cangrande della Scala : Saggio d' Edizione
critica e di commento, p. 2). Owing to the fact that, in spite of
repeated efforts on his own and on my behalf by the late Dr. Moore,
it proved impossible to procure photographic reproductions of these
MSS., I have been unable to make diplomatic transcripts of the
MS. texts as in the case of previous letters, and have been obliged
to rely upon the collations of the MSS. printed by Boffito in the
above-mentioned article. A tentative sketch of the relationship
of the six MSS. was published by Vincenzo Biagi in a review (to
which I am much indebted) of Boffito's article in Bullettino della
Societa Dantesca Italiana, NS. xvi. 21-37 (1909). In this scheme

EPISTOLA X 161

Printed Texts. 1 — 1. G. Baruffaldi (1700)'': in La Galleria
di Minerva (Venezia, 1700; vol. iii, pp. 220-8). 2. G. Berno
(1749) : in La Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri (Verona,
1749 ; vol. i, pp. xxv-xxxviii). 3. A. Zatta (1758) : in Le Opere
di Dante con varie Annotazioni (Venezia, 1757-8 ; vol. iv, pp.
400-8). 4. A. Zatta (1760) : in Le Opere di Dante con varie An-
notazioni (Venezia, 1760 ; vol. v, pp. 469-80). 5. Witte (1827) :
Epist. ix, in Dantis Alligherii Epistolae qnae exstant (pp. 73-102).
6. Fraticelli (1840) : Epist. vi (op. cit, pp. 300-66). 7. Torri
(1842) : Epist. xiv (op. cit., pp. 108-40). 8. Witte (1855) : (§§ 1-
4 only, from the Munich MS.), in Observationes de Dantis
Epistola nuncupatoria ad Canem Grandem de Scala 3 (Halle,
1855) ; reprinted in Dante-Forschungen (Heilbronn, 1869 ; vol.
i, pp. 500-7). 9. Fraticelli (1857) : Epist. xi (op. cit., pp. 532-
62). 10. Giuliani (1861): in Metodo di commentare la Commedia
di Dante Allighieri (Firenze, 1861; pp. 14-40). 11. Giuliani

(p. 22) the two Cent. xv MSS. (A. and M.) fall into one group (a\
and the four Cent. xvi MSS. (V., Me., M. 1 , M. 2 ) into another (b),
probably somewhat as under :

x

!

a b

(Cent. xv) (Cent. xvi)

II II

A. M. V. *

I

Me.

M. 1 M. 2

1 For titles of editions referred to here as already quotecl, see
above, pp. 1-2.

2 Sundry extracts from the letter had been quoted, and in some
cases printed, at an earlier date ; see Introduction, pp. xxxvi-xl, and
Boffito, op. cit., p. 8.

3 Printed in honour of L. G. Blanc.

2165 M

162 LETTERS OF DANTE

(1882) : Epist. x, in Le Opere Latine di Dante Allighieri (vol. ii,
pp. 34-64). 12. Scartazzini (1890) : in Prolegomeni della Divina
Commedia (pp. 386-98). 1 13. Fraticelli (1893) : Epist. xi (op.
cit., pp. 508-36). 2 14. Moore (1894) : Epist. x (op. cit., pp. 414-
20). 15. Moore (1904) : Epist. x (op. cit., pp. 414-20). 3 16.
G. Boffito (1907) : in Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze
di Torino (Torino, 1907 ; Serie ii, Tom. lvii, pp. 11-13, 17-20,
28-33). 17. Passerini (1910) : Epist. x (op. cit., pp. 102-52). 4
18. [Della Torre] (1917) : Epist. xvii (op. cit., pp. 285-308). 5 19.
Paget Toynbee (1919) : (emended text, with collations of the
various readings of the MSS. and of the printed editions of the
letter, and list of proposed emendations in the Oxford text) in
Modem Language Revieiv (vol. xiv, pp. 278-302).

Translations. 6 — itaftaw. 1. Fraticelli (1840) : op. cit., pp.
301-67. 2. M. Misserini (1842): in Torri, op. cit., pp. 109-41.
3. Fraticelli (1857): (revised trans.) op. cit, pp. 533-63. 4.
Giuliani (1861) : in Metodo di commentare la Commedia di Dante
Allighisri (pp. 15-41). 5. Giuliani (1882) : (revised trans.) in
Le Opere Latine di Dante Allighieri (vol. ii, pp. 35-65). 6. Pas-
serini (1910) : op. cit., pp. 103-53. — German. 1. Kannegiesser
(1845) : op. cit., pp. 210-26. 2. Scartazzini (1879) : (extracts)
in Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein Leben und seine Werke
(pp. 429-30).— English. 1. K. Hillard (1889) : in The Banquet
of Dante Alighieri (London, 1889 ; pp. 390-406). 2. Latham
(1891): op. cit., pp. 187-216. 3. Wicksteed (1904): op. cit.,
pp. 343-62. 4. Paget Toynbee (see lelow, pp. 195-211).— French.
Comtesse Horace de Choiseul (1915): (extracts) inDante: Le
Paradis (Paris, 1915 ; pp. x, xi, xiv, 2, 3, 408).

1 This text, which follows that of Fraticelli, is disfigured by
a number of misprints.

2 A revised issue of the text of 1857.

3 An emended text.

4 This text is disfigured by more than a dozen misprints.

5 There are fifteen misprints in this text.

6 For titles of editions referred to here as already quoted, see
9

EPISTOLA X 163

Authenticity. — Dante's authorship of this letter has been
vehementlycontested^but since the publication of Dr. Moore's
exhaustive article on the subject in the third series of his
Studies in Dante, 2 its authenticity may be regarded as definitely
established. The letter was known to and quoted by several of
the early commentators on the Commedia* among others to
Guido da Pisa and Jacopo della Lana, both of whose commen-
taries were written within a few years of Dante's death. 4

Date. — In the absence of detailed information with regard
to the last few years of Dante's life, it is difhcult to assign
a precise date to the letter. From the epithet ' victoriosissimus '
applied to Can Grande in the title, it is obvious that it must
have been written before Aug. 25, 1320, the date of Can
Grande's disastrous defeat before Padua; on the other hand
this epithet would be appropriate in or shortly after 1318, in
which year (April) Can Grande took Cremona, and was elected
(Dec.) Captain General of the Ghibelline League in Lombardy.
The most probable date seems to be 1319 (Dante being then the
guest of Guido da Polenta at Ravenna), at which time, as we
know from Eclogue i, though the Paradiso was not yet finished
(11. 48-50), 6 ten cantos were completed (1. 64). 6

Summary. — 1. (Epistolanj, §§ 1-4) 7 : § 1. In order to satisfy
himself as to the truth of the reports of Can Grande's fame Dante

1 See, for instance, the article of D'Ovidio in his Studii sulla
Divina Commedia (pp. 448 ff.).

2 ' The genuineness of the Dedicatory Epistle to Can Grande '
(pp. 284 ff.).

3 See Introduction, p. xvii, and the extracts from fourteenth-
century commentators printed by Boffito at the end of his article.

4 That of Guido da Pisa was written probably c. 1324 ; that
of Jacopo della Lana c. 1326.

5 ' Quum mundi circumflua corpora cantu
Astricolaeque meo, velut infera regna, patebunt,
Devincire caput hedera lauroque iuvabit.'

6 ' Hac implebo decem missurus vascula Mopso.'

7 See Moore, Studies in Dante, iii. 286.

m2

164 LETTERS OF DANTE

visited Verona, where he found that the reports in fact fell short
of the truth ; previously well disposed towards Can Grande by
inclination, he now, after witnessing his splendour, and par-
taking of his bounty, professes himself his devoted servant and
friend. § 2. Having defended himself against a possible charge
of presumption in declaring himself Can Grande's friend ;
§ 3. he explains how he had cast about to find some gift worthy
of Can Grandes acceptance, and how he finally decided to offer
to him the last Cantica of his Commedia, the Paradiso, which
he herewith dedicates to him. § 4. He realizes that in so doing
he may be thought to be conferring more honour on the
xecipient than on t he^gift ; but now having said what he had to
say in epistolary form, he will assume the office of commen-
tator, and proceed to the task of furnishing an introduction to
the poem.

2. (Doctrinal, §§ 5-16) * : § 5. Of the difference between abso-
lute and relative terms ; and of the relation, inter alia, of the
part to the whole. § 6. Before the part can be explained, some
knowledge must be conveyed of the poem as a whole ; six points
to be considered, viz. the subject, the author, the form, the aim,
the title, and the branch of philosophy to which the work
belongs ; in respect of three of which, viz. subject, form, and
title, the part differs from the whole. § 7. The work to be
interpreted in more senses than one, the meaning thronghout
being firstly literal, and secondly allegorical or mystical. Illus-
tration from Psalm cxiii. 1 (' In exitu Israel de Aegypto ') of
literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical (or spiritual) meaning.
§ 8. Explanation of the subject of the poem, first in the literal,
then in the allegorical sense. § 9. The form of the poem two-
fold, viz. the form of the treatise and the form of the treat-
ment ; the former of which is shown to be threefold, and the
latter tenfold. § 10. Explanation of the title of the poem,
Commedia ; of the origin and meaning of the words comoedia
and tragoedia, and of the difference between them. §11. Ex-
planation of the subject of the Paradiso, in the literal and

1 See Moore, Studies in Dante, iii. 286.

EPISTOLA X 165

allegorical senses. §§ 12, 13. Wherein its form and title differ
from that of the whole poem. §§ 14, 15, 16. Of the author, the
aim, and the classification of the Paradiso.

3. (Expository, §§ 17-33) x : §17. The Paradiso divided into
two main parts, viz. the prologue, and the subject proper.
§ 18. As to the prologue, and its division into two parts.
§ 19. The three conditions of a good rhetorical exordium, as
laid down by Cicero, fulfilled in the announcement of the sub-
ject of the Paradiso. §§ 20-3. The truth of the statement in
the first terzina of the first canto proved by reason, and by
authority. §§24-7. Discussion and explanation of the term
' empyrean ' ; justification of its application in the present case.
§§28,29. Of experiences transcending human understanding
and beyond the power of human speech. § 30. Of the subject
proper of the Paradiso. § 31. Of the second part of the prologue,
and its two sub-divisions. § 32. Further discussion of the pro-
logue postponed for the present owing to the pressure of family
affairs. § 33. For which reason also no more can be said now
as to the explanation of the main subject, save that it is intended
to include the ascent from heaven to heaven, until at last the
presence is reached of God Himself, the Beginning and the End.

Magnifico atque victoriosissimo a 2 Domino, Domino Kani
■ Grandi de la Scala, h 3 sacratissimi et Caesarei c princi-

A. = Cod. Ambrosiano C. 145. Inf (Milan) M. -- Cod. Lat. 78 {Munich)
Me. = Cod. Mediceo {Florence) V. = Cod. S14 {Verona) M. 1 = Cod.
Magliabechiano vi. 164. A {Florence) M. 2 = Cod. Magliabechiano vi. 164. B
0. = Oxforcl Bante (O. 1 - ed. 1894 ; O. 2 = ed. 1897 ; O. 3 = ed. 1904)

a M.M.^M.^Me.V.O. victorioso b M. J M. 2 V.O. de Scala c M.^M.^V.
s. et sereni ; 0. s. Caesarei

1 See Moore, Studies in Bante, iii. 286.

2 The superlative, which is the reading of A., is more in keeping
with Dante's style and rhythm than victorioso ; cf. the titles oiEpist.
i, vii, and of the three Battifolie letters {Epist. vii*, vii**, vii***).

3 ' De la Scaia ' appears to have been the regular Latin form of
the Scaliger surname ; it is the form used by the author (writing
in 1317) of the Latin commentary on the Ecerinis of Albertino

166 LETTERS OF DANTE

patus in urbe Verona et civitate Vicentiae* 1 Vicario
Generali, devotissimus suus Dantes Alagherii b , Floren-
. tinus fiatione non moribus, vitam orat c 2 per tempora
diuturna d felicem, et gloriosi nominis perpetuum*
incrementum.

§ 1. Inclyta f vestrae Magnificentiae 3 laus, quam
fama vigil volitando» 4 disseminat, sic distrahit in di-

a M.^M.^Me.O. Vicentia; V. Vicentina b A.M. Aligerius ; M. 1

M. 2 Me.V. Allagherii; 0. Aligherius c M.^M. 2 orat al optat ; Me. orat
utoptat; O. optat d A. diuturnam e Me.O. inperpetuum f A.
Inclytae s M. 1 M.. 2 V. volitanter ; Me.0 . volitans

Mussato ('Cani Grandi de la Scala'), by Pietro di Dante in his
comment on Par. xvii. 46 (' illos de la Scala de Verona '), by Filippo
Villani in his Expositio of the first canto of the Inferno (§ 3 *ad
dominum Canem de la Scala '), and by Benvenuto da Imola in his
Comentum (on Purg. xviii. 121 : ' Mastinus de la Scala', 'insula de
la Scala ', ' Albertus de la Scala ' ; on Par. xvii. 70 : { Bartholomaeus
de la Scala '). In the Statuto dello Spedale di Santa Maria di Siena the
hospital is frequently referred to as ' Hospitale Sancte Marie de la
Scala de Senis' (see Statuti Senesi, ed. L. Banchi, vol. iii. pp. 128,
130, 132, 194, 212). Torraca, in his Studi Danieschi (p. 255 n.),
quotes from Cipolla's Compendio della Storia Politica di Verona two
documents (dated 1317 and 1323) in which Can Grande's name
occurs as ' Canem grandem de la Scala '. See also the documents
of Jan. 10 and Feb. 4, 1311, quoted by Bonaini in Acta Henrici VII
(vol. i, pp. 124, 144).

1 The mediaeval formula was not civiias Vicentia, civitas Bononia,
civitas Florentia, &c, but civitas Vicentiae, c. Bononiae, &c. ; or (less
commonly) civitas Vicentina, c. Bononiensis, &c For examples of
the former usage, see Del Lungo, DelV Esilio di Dante, pp. 75, 80,
91, &c ('civitas Florentiae ') ; pp. 101, 141, 158 (<c Pistorii');
p. 141 (' c Aretii '). 2 Cf. l orat pacem ' in the title ofEpist. v.

3 I take ' Magnificentia ' here and in § 32 to be a title of honour,
as in Epist. iv (iii). 6, and in the title of Epist. vii* (see Mod. Lang.
Rev. xii. 303 n.).

4 Cf. ' volitans Fama ', Aen. vii. 104 ; ix. 473-4 ; and her ' vigiles
oculi', Aen. iv. 182. The reading volitando reslores the cursus —
1 (voli)tando disseminat ' (tardus).

EPISTOLA X 167

versa diversos, ut hos in spem a suae prosperitatis b at-

5 tollat, hos exterminii deiciat c in terrorem. d x Huius e

quidem praeconium, facta f modernorum exsuperans « 2 , 5

tamquam veri existentia h latius, arbitrabar aliquando *

superfluum. Verum ne diuturna me nimis incertitudo J

10 suspenderet, velut Austri regina k Hierusalem petiit 3 ,

velut Pallas petiit Helicona 14 , Veronam petii fidis

oculis discursurus m audita. Ibique n magnalia vestra 10

vidi, vidi beneficia simul ° et tetigi ; et quemadmodum

15 prius dictorum ex parte p suspicabar excessum, sic

posterius ipsa facta excessiva cognovi. Quo factum ut q

ex auditu solo cum quadam animi subiectione benevolus

a Me.V. inspe; M.*M. 2 mspei b M.^M. 2 posteritatis c A.deiecit;
M. deicit ; M. 1 deuiat d M. 2 omits in terrorem e M.^M.^Me.V.O. hoc
' A.facto B A.M. exuberans n M.^M.^Me. essentia x M.^M.^Me.V.
alii * A. incertitudine k A. regiam * M.*M. 2 0. Heliconam

m A.M. discussurus n M.^M.^Me.V. Auditaubique ° A.M. similiter
p M.^M.^Me.V.0. omit exparte « M.^M.^Me.O./ac^m est ut

1 Cf. Dante's prophecy concerning Can Grande, Par. xvii. 85-90 :

Le sue magnificenze conosciute

Saranno ancora si, che i suoi nimici
Non ne potran tener le lingue mute.

A lui t' aspetta ed ai suoi benefici ;
Per lui fia trasmutata molta gente,
Cambiando condizion ricchi e mendici.

2 Cf. Par. xvii. 91-3.

3 Matt. xii. 42 ; Luke xi. 31 ; Dante's reference to the Queen as
' regina Austri ' shows that he had in mind the N.T. passages, as
well as the accounts in 1 Kings x and 2 Chron. ix, where she is
styled 'regina Saba'.

* The reading Helicona is assured by the ' Helicona petit ' of Ovid,
Metam. v. 254, to which Dante is here referring (as well as by Aen.
vii. 641 ; x. 163). On Dante's practice of coupling examples from
sacred and profane literature, as here, see Moore, Studies, i. 26-7,
118 ; ii. 22-5 ; iii. 301.

168 LETTERS OF DANTE

20 prius exstiterim ; sed ex visu primordii et a devotissimus 15
et amicus.

§ 2. Nec reor, amici nomen assumens, ut nonnulli
forsitan obiectarent, reatum praesumptionis incurrere b \

25 quum non minus dispares connectantur quam pares
amicitiae sacramento. 2 Nam si delectabiles c et utiles 20
amicitias inspicere libeat, illis persaepius inspicienti
patebit, praeeminentes inferioribus coniugari personas/ 1

30 Et si e ad veram ac per se amicitiam torqueatur intuitus,
nonne illustrium summorumque f principum g plerumque
viros fortuna obscuros, honestate praeclaros, amicos 25
fuisse constabit 3 ? Quidni ? quum etiam Dei et homi-

35 nis amicitia nequaquam impediatur excessu ! Quod si
cuiquam, quod asseritur, videatur h indignum, Spiritum
Sanctum audiat, amicitiae suae participes 1 quosdam J
homines k profitentem. Nam in Sapientia l de sapientia 30

40 legitur, ' quoniam infinitus thesaurus est hominibus,
quo m qui usi sunt, participes facti sunt amicitiae n
Dei \ 4 Sed habet imperitia vulgi sine discretione
iudicium 5 ; et quemadmodum solem pedalis magni-

a A.M. sed ex usu postmodum ; M.^M. 2 secundum ex visu primordii et;
0. sic ex visu primordii et b A.M. mereri c M.^M. 2 nec non d. ;

Me.V. non d. d A.M. libeat illas p. i. patebit inferiores coniungat

personas ; O. libeat, persaepius i. p., p. inferioribus coniugari personis
e Me. personas, si f A. summorum illustriumque e M. 2 principium
h A.M. quid (M. quod) si cuiquam asserit nunc videret ; O. Quod si cuiquam,
quod asseritur, videreiur l V. omits participes j Me.V. quosque

k A. honores l A. insipientia; M. 2 in Sapientiam m M. 2 qua

n A.M. usi sunt amicitie

1 I am inclined to suspect that the reading of A.M. is not mereri
(as Boffito gives it), but merere (as Witte has it, from M., in Dante-
Forschungen, i. 505). 2 Cf. Aristotle. Ethics, viii. 2, 3, 8.

3 Ethics, viii. 6. 4 Wisd. vii. 14.

5 Moore (Siudies, iii. 338-9) compares Conr. i. 4, 11. 29-31 ; 11,
11. 22-7 ; iii. 10, 1. 28 ; and V. E. i. 3, 11. 2-5.

EPISTOLA X 169

45 tudinis arbitratur *, sic circa mores, 2 et circa unam vel 35
alteram rem vana credulitate decipitur. a Nos autem b
quibus optimum quod c est in nobis noscere datum est,
gregum vestigia sectari non decet, quinimmo suis erro-

50 ribus obviare tenemur. Nam d intellectu ac ratione
vigentes, 6 3 divina quadam libertate dotati/ nullis 40
consuetudinibus adstringuntur g . Nec mirum, quum
non ipsi legibus, sed ipsis leges potius h dirigantur.

55 Liquet igitur, quod superius dixi, me scilicet esse
devotissimum et amicum,nullatenus esse praesumptum 1 4 .
§ 3. Praeferens ergo amicitiam vestram quasi the- 45

60 saurum carissimum, providentia diligenti et accurata
sollicitudine illam servare desidero 1 . Itaque quum in
dogmatibus moralis negotii k B amicitiam adaequari et

a M. sic contra mores vana c. d. ; M. 1 M. 2 sic et circa unam vel imam rem

c. d. ; V. sic circa una vel ima c. d. ; 0. sic circa unam vel alteram rem c.

d. ; (the reading of A. is not given by Boffito) b M. x M. 2 Me.V.
nos enim; 0. Eos autem c M. quidem d 0. tenentur : nam e A.
M.M. x M. 2 Me.V. intellectu ac (M. atque) ratione degentes f M.^M. 2 d.
q. Hbertate et ratione d. ; Me.V. d. q. ratione d. s A.M. astringitur ;
(the reading of V. is illegible) h V. potius leges l V.O. prae-
sumptuosum * A. desiderio k M. moralis philosophie negotii

1 Cf. Aristotle, De Anim. iii. 5 ; Cicero, Fin. i. 6 ; Acad. ii. 26 ;
and Conv. iv. 8, 11. 51-3 : ' sapemo che alla piii gente il sole pare di
larghezza nel diametro d'un piede '.

2 It is difficult to account for mores in M. and Me. (that is, in
representatives of both of the MS. groups) unless the word was
in the archetype from which they were derived.

3 In spite of the unanimity of the MSS. in favour of degentes
, there can be no doubt as to vigentes being the true reading ; cf.

Mon. i. 3, 11. 91-2, which, as Moore points out (Siudies, i. 150 ;
iii. 339), is a direct quotation from Aristotle, Poliiics, i. 2.

4 This, the reading of five out of the six MSS., rectifies the cursus
— ' £sse praesumptum ' {planus).

5 Cf. the similar use of negotium in § 16 ; as Moore notes
(Studies, iii. 304), negotium is the rendering in the Antiqua Trans-

170 LETTERS OF DANTE

salvari a analogo doceatur, ad retribuendum pro collatis
65 beneficiis plus quam semel analogiam sequi b mihi 50
votivum est * ; et propter hoc munuscula mea c saepe
multum d conspexi % et ab invicem segregavi, nec
non segregata percensui, dignius gratiusque f vobis
70 inquirens. Neque ipsi s praeeminentiae vestrae con-
gruum comperi magis, quam h Comoediae sublimem 55
canticam, quae decoratur titulo Paradisi; et illam
sub praesenti epistola, tamquam sub epigrammate 2
75 proprio dedicatam *, vobis adscribo, vobis offero, vobis
denique recommendo.

§ 4. Illud quoque praeterire silentio simpliciter 60

a M.^Me.V. ad quam et salvari b M. 1 V. b. qui semel analogia s. ;

Me. b. qui semel analogiam s. ; 0. b. analogiam s. c M. omits mea

d 0. multumque e A.M. dspexi f M. X V. dignusque cuiusque ; Me.
dignus quam cuiusquam; 0. digniusque gratiusque g A.M.M. 2 omit

ipsi ; M.^Me.V. neque ipsum h M. congruum magis comperi quam ;

Me. congruum comperi quam l V.

latio of the Ethics of the term irpayfiareia, which is several times
applied by Aristotle to his ethical treatise. The reference is to
Ethics, ix. 1.

1 Cf. Conv. iii. -1, 11. 55-69: <E da sapere che, siccome dice il
Filosofo nel nono dell' Etica, nell' amista delle persone dissimili
di stato conviene, a conservazione di quella, una proporzione
(analogum) essere intra loro, che la dissimilitudine a similitudine
quasi riduca, siccome intra '1 signore e '1 servo. Che, avvegnache
'1 servo non possa simile beneficio rendere al signore, quando da
lui e beneficato, dee pero rendere quello che migliore puo con tanto
di sollecitudine e di franchezza, che quello, ch' e dissimile per se,
si faccia simile per lo mostramento della buona volonta, la quale
manifesta V amista, e ferma e conserva.'

2 Vandelli (Bidl. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. viii. 148) quotes from
Uguccione da Pisa : ' Item gramma, quod est linea vel lettera, com-
ponitur cum epy, quod est supra, et dicitur hoc epygramma, -tis, idest
superscriptio, scilicet titulus vel brevis annotatio eorum que diffusius
dicuntur in sequenti opere '.

EPISTOLA X 171

inardescens a * non sinit affectus, quod in hac donatione

80 plus domino quam dono b honoris et famae c potest

conferri videri d2 ; quinimmo 6 , cum eius titulo f iam

praesagium 8 de gloria vestri nominis h amplianda 1 ,

satis attentis j videar k 3 expressisse ; quod de proposito \ 65

85 Sed zelus m gratiae n vestrae, quam sitio, invidiam ° 4

parvipendens, a primordio metam praefixam urgebit p

ulterius. Itaque, formula consummata epistolae, ad

introductionem oblati operis aliquid sub lectoris officio

90 compendiose aggrediar. 70

§ 5. Sicut dicit q Philosophus in secundo Metaphysi-

corum x : 'Sicut res se habet ad esse, sic se habet ad

•* M. omits simpliciter inardescens ; 0. simpliciter , inardescens b M. 1
' Me.V. plus dono quam domino c Me.M. et honoris etfamae ; M. 1 V. et
honorisfamae d A.M.O. conferri videri potest ; M. x Me.V. /erri videri

potest * A.M. quid mirum ? f A.M. V. titidum g Me. V. praesagia
h Me.V. omit vestri ' M. ampliandum ; Me.V. ampliandus j A.M.
satis hactenus k A.M. V.O. videbar ; M.^Me. mihi videbatur ! A.M.
de proposito fui m A. gelus; M.^Me.V.O.^O. 2 tenellus n 0. 3 gloriae
A.M.O. 3 nostram ; M.^O.^O. 2 vitam ; Me.V. qui vitam D M.^O.^O. 2
urgebo ; A. urge ; Me.V. arguet q M.O. dixit r V. Metaphysices

1 It seems best, with Parodi {Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix.
273-4), to omit the comma at simpliciter (which involves a violation
of the cursus), and to take ' simpliciter inardescens ' together.

2 The reading of the MSS. violates the cursus, which is rectified
by the transposition in the text — ' (con)ferri videri ' (planus).
The meaning of this passage has been the subject of lengthy
discussion (see, for instance, Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. viii. 148-9 ;
xvi. 28 ; xix. 274-5), but no satisfactory result has yet been
arrived at.

3 This emendation, which follows a suggestion of Bohmer
(Dante-Jahrbuch, i. 398), rectifies the cursus — 'videar expressisse'
(velox).

4 This emendation, also a suggestion of BOhmer (loc. cit.), which
commends itself to Biagi and Parodi (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xvi.
24 n. ; xix. 274), while rectifying the cursus — ' (in)vidiam parvi-
pendens' (velox) — gives the required sense.

172 LETTERS OF DANTE

veritatem ' l ; cuius ratio est, quia a veritas de re, quae
95 in b veritate consistit tamquam in subiecto, est similitudo
perfecta rei sicut est. Eorum vero quae sunt, quaedam 75
sic sunt, ut habeant esse absolutum in se ; quaedam sunt

100 ita c , ut habeant esse dependens ab alio per relationem
quandam, ut eodem tempore esse, et ad aliud se habere d ,
ut relativa, sicut pater et filius, 6 dominus et servus,
duplum et f dimidium, totum et g pars, et huiusmodi, in 80

105 quantum talia. 2 Propterea quod h esse talium dependet
ab alio, consequens est quod eorum veritas ab alio
dependeat : ignorato enim dimidio, nunquam cognoscitur
duplum ; et sic de aliis.

110 § 6. Volentes igitur aliqualem introductionem tra- 85
dere ! de parte operis alicuius, oportet aliquam notitiam
tradere de toto cuius est pars. Quapropter et ego, vo-

115 lens de parte supra nominata totius 3 Comoediae aliquid
tradere per modum introductionis, aliquid de toto opere
praemittendum existimavi k , ut facilior et perfectior sit 90
ad partem introitus. Sex igitur sunt quae in principio

120 cuiusque doctrinalis operis l inquirenda sunt, videlicet
subiectum m , agens, forma, finis, libri titulus, et genus
philosophiae. De istis tria sunt in quibus pars ista
quam vobis destinare proposui, variatur a toto, scilicet 95

125 subiectum, forma et titulus ; in aliis vero non variatur,

a Me. quod b Me. omits in c V. omits ita d Me. ut ea tempore
esse est ad aliud se habere ; M.*V. ut ea quorum esse est ad aliud se habere
e O. sicut relativa pater etfilius f Me. omits et g Me. omits et

h M.. 1 propter quodque ; O. Propterea quodque * Me. omits tradere •> O.
omits totius k M. 1 existimauit l V. gperis doctrinalis m M.^V.
factum ; Me. subiectum factum

1 Afetaphys. ii. 1 (adfin.).

2 Cf. the similar illustrations of relative and absolute terms in
Mon. iii. 12, 11. 31-58.

EPISTOLA X 173

sicut apparet inspicienti ; et ideo, circa considerationem
de toto, ista tria inquirenda seorsum a a sunt : quo facto,
satis patebit ad introductionem partis. Deinde in-

130 quiremus alia tria, non solum per respectum ad totum, 100
sed etiam per respectum ad ipsam partem oblatam.
§ 7. Ad evidentiam itaque dicendorum, sciendum est

135 quod istius operis non est simplex sensus, immo dici
potest polysemos b 2 , hoc est plurium sensuum ; nam
primus c sensus est qui habetur per literam, alius est qui 105
habetur per significata per literam. Et primus dicitur

lio literalis, secundus vero allegoricus, sive mysticus. 3
Qui modus tractandi, ut melius pateat, potest considerari
in his d versibus : ' In exitu Israel de Aegypto, domus
Iacob de populo barbaro, facta est Iudaea sanctificatio 110

145 eius, Israel potestas eius \ 4 Nam si ad e literam solam
inspiciamus, significatur nobis exitus filiorum Israel de
Aegypto, tempore Moysis ; si ad f allegoriam, nobis
significatur « nostra redemptio facta per Christum ; si

150 ad h moralem sensum, significatur nobis conversio animae 115
de luctu et miseria peccati ad statum gratiae ; si ad *
anagogicum, significatur exitus animae sanctae j ab

b M. 1 poJysensuum ; V '. polysensum ; O. polysemum
.'Me. istis e M.^M.^O. omit ad f M. 2 0. omit

a M. 1 0. seorsim
c O. alius d M.'Me. istis

ad k ' V. significatur nobis h M. 2 0. omit ad ' M. 2 0. omit ad

j V. omits sanctae

1 This, not seorsim (vvhich appears to have been unknown in
classical Latin), is the form registered hy Papias, Uguccione da
Pisa, Giovanni da Genova, and the Gemma Oemmarum, and is the
reading of all except one of the MSS.

2 This is the reading of two MSS.- Dante, no doubt, was indebted
for the word to Uguccione da Pisa (see my Dante Studies and
Researches, p. 106, and note 1).

3 Cf. Mon. iii. 4, 11. 47-8. * Psalm cxiv {Vulg. cxiii). 1-2.

174 LETTERS OF DANTE

155 huius corruptionis servitute ad aeternae a gloriae liber-
tatem. Et quamvis b isti sensus mystici variis c appel-
lentur nominibus, generaliter Omnes dici possunt alle- 120
gorici, quum sint a literali sive historiali diversi. Nam

160 allegoria dicitur ab alleon d graece e , quod in latinum
dicitur alienum, sive f diversum. 1

§ 8. His visis, manifestum est quod duplex oportet
esse subiectum, circa quod currant alterni sensus, Et 125

165 ideo videndum est de subiecto huius operis, prout ad
literam accipitur ; deinde de subiecto, prout allegorice
sententiatur g . Est ergo subiectum totius operis, litera-
liter tantum accepti, status animarum post mortem

170 simpliciter sumptus. Nam de illo et circa h illum totius 130
operis versatur processus. Si vero accipiatur 1 opus
allegorice, subiectum est homo prout merendo et

175 demerendo per arbitrii libertatem iustitiae praemiandi
et puniendi j 2 obnoxius est.

§ 9. Forma vero est duplex, forma tractatus et forma 135
tractandi. Forma tractatus est triplex, secundum
triplicem divisionem. Prima divisio est, qua totum

180 opus dividitur in tres canticas. Secunda, qua quaelibet
cantica dividitur in cantus. Tertia, qua quilibet cantus

a M. x Me.V. aeternam b M. ] M. 2 quomodo ; Me. quoniam ; 0. quam-
quam c V. omits variis d M. x M. 2 Me. omit e Me. omits

f Me. uel s V. consideratur h M. 2 circam ' V. accipitur

1 O. praemianti aut punienti

1 See my Dante Studies and Researches, p. 106, and note 2.

2 This is the reading of all four MSS., as well as of Guido da
Pisa in his commentary (see Bull. Soc. Dant Ital.. N.S. viii. 152) ;
and it was evidently the reading of the text utilized by Boccaccio
in his Comento, where he translates : ' come 1' uomo per lo libero
arbitrio meritando e dismeritando, e alla giustizia di guiderdonare
e di punire obbligato ' (ed. Milanesi, i. 82).

EPISTOLA X 175

dividitur in rithimos al . Forma sive modus tractandi 140
185 est poeticus, fictivus, descriptivus b , digressivus c , tran-
sumptivus d ; et cum hoc definitivus e , divisivus, proba-
tivus f , improbativus g , et exemplorum positivus. 2

§10. Libri titulus est : 'Incipit Comoedia Dantis
190 Alagherii h , Florentini natione, non moribus \ Ad 145
cuius notitiam sciendum est, quod comoedia dicitur
a comos ! 3 villa, et oda quod est cantus, unde comoedia
quasi villanus cantus. Et est comoedia genus quoddam
195 poeticae narrationis, ab omnibus aliis differens. DifFert- 1
ergo a tragoedia in materia per hoc, quod tragoedia in 150
principio est k admirabilis et quieta, in fine sive l exitu
est m foetida et n horribilis ; et dicitur propter hoc a

a Me.V. rhythmos; M.^M. 2 rhylmos b Me.V. et descriptivus

c Cancelled in V. d V. omits e Me. diffinitiuus r *Me. probans
s Me. improbans h M.^M.^V. Allagherii; O. Aligherii • 0. comus
j M. 2 differet k V. est in principio * M. 2 Me.V. seu m V. omits
est n Me.V. sive

1 In the De Vulgari Eloquentia this word is used in the sense of
1 rhyme ' ; here it means the rhymed lines composing the terzine ;
cf. the use of ' ritmo ' in Conv. i. 10, 1. 88, where it is explained as
1 numero regolato '. (See Moore, Studies, iii. 310.)

2 Cf. Benvenuto da Imola, in the Iniroductio to his Comentum super
Bantis Comoediam : ' Diffinitivus, quia saepe diffinit ; diffinit enim
fidem, spem, et item de multis. Divisivus, quia dividit Infernum
per circulos, Purgatorium per gradus, Paradisum per spheras ; et
ita de multis. Probativus, quia saepe probat dicta sua rationibus
et persuasionibus. Improbativus, quia saepe improbat dicta
aliorum, ut saepe patet. Exemplorum positivus, ut patet per
totum ' (i. 18).

3 Apart from the fact that this is the reading of all four MSS.,
this form is assured by its occurrence in the passage of the Magnae
Derivationes of Uguccione da Pisa from which Dante is here quoting
(see my Dante Studies and Researches, p. 103), as well as in the
commentaries of Pietro di Dante (p. 9), the Anonimo Fiorentino
(vol. i, p. 9), Villani (§ 10), and Buti (vol. ii, p. 533).

176 LETTERS OF DANTE

200 tragos a T quod est hircus, et oda, qnasi cantus hircinus,
id est foetidus b ad modum hirci, ut patet per Senecam in
suis tragoediis. Comoedia vero inchoat asperitatem 155

205 alicuius rei, sed eius materia prospere terminatur, ut
patet per Terentium in suis comoediis. Et hinc consue-
verunt dictatores quidam in suis salutationibus 2 dicere
loco salutis, ' tragicum principium, et comicum finem \ 3

210 Similiter differunt in modo loquendi : elate et sublime 160
tragoedia ; comoedia vero remisse et humiliter c 4 ; sicut
vult Horatius in sua Poetria d 5 , ubi licentiat aliquando e
comicos ut tragoedos loqui, et sic e converso :

215 Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit,

Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore ; 165

Et tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri
Telephus et Peleus etc. f 6

a O. tragus b M. 2 fedidus c V '. humiliter et remisse d M. 1

M. 2 V.O. Poetica e M.^M. 2 aliter f 0. omits Telephus et Peleus etc.

1 See previous note.

2 The salutatio was one of the recognized five parts of a letter, the
other four being the exordium, narratio, petitio, conclusio.

3 This, like the derivations of 'comedy' and 'tragedy', comes
from Uguccione da Pisa (see my Dante Studies and Besearches, p. 104).

4 On the distinction between tragedy and comedy, cf. V. E. ii. 4,
11. 38 ff.

5 This, which is the reading of Me., is the form in which Dante
quotes the Ars Poetica in the De Vulgari Eloquentia (ii. 4, 1. 35), as
well as in the Vita Nuova (§ 25, 1. 92) and Convivio (ii. 14, 1. 88) ; it
was the title by which the work was commonly quoted by mediaeval
writers ; cf., for instance, Uguccione da Pisa and Giovanni da
Genova (s. y, poeta) : ' a poeta . . . hec poetria, -trie, ars poetica ' ;
and the commentaries of the Ottimo and Boccaccio on Inf. iv. 89 ;
and of Pietro di Dante (p. 5), Villani (§ 10), Buti (vol. i, pp. 4,
487 ; vol. ii, pp. 577, 814 ; vol. iii, p. 13), and Benvenuto da Imola
(vol. i, pp. 9, 79, 453 ; vol. ii, p. 489 ; vol. v, pp. 133, 384).

6 Ars Poet. 93-6.

EPISTOLA X 177

Et per hoc patet qtiod comoedia dicitur praesens opus.

220 Nam si ad materiam respiciamus, a principio horribilis
et foetida est, quia a Infernus\ in flne prospera, de- 170
siderabilis b et grata, quia Paradisus. Ad modum c
loquendi, remissus est modus et humilis, quia locutio

225 vulgaris, in qua et mulierculae ' communicant. Et sic
patet quare d comoedia dicitur e . Sunt et alia genera
narrationum poeticarum, scilicet f carmen bucolicum, 175
elegia, satira, et sententia votiva s 2 , ut etiam per
Horatium patere potest in sua Poetria h ; sed de istis

230 ad praesens nil dicendum est.

§ 11. Potest amodo * patere, quomodo assignandum
sit subiectum partis oblatae. Nam si totius operis litera- 180
liter sumpti sic est subiectum j , status animarum post

235 mortem, non contractus sed simpliciter acceptus, mani-
festum est quod hac in parte talis status est subiectum,
sed contractus, scilicet status animarum beatarum post

240 mortem. Et si totius operis allegorice sumpti sub- 185
iectum est homo prout merendo et k demerendo per
arbitrii libertatem est iustitiae praemiandi et puniendi l
obnoxius, manifestum est in hac parte hoc subiectum

245 contrahi, et est homo prout merendo m obnoxius est
iustitiae praemiandi u . 190

§ 12. Et sic patet de forma partis per formam assi-

a M. 2 feclida est qua b Mo. et desiderabilis c O. Si ad modum

d Me. quia e 0. omits Et sic . . . dicitur f V. omits : Me. sicut

« M. 2 votive h M.^M.^V.O. Poetica ' Me.V. admodo J V. omits
partis oblatae . . . subiectum k Me. uel l O. praemianti autpunienti
m Me.V. omit merendo n 0. praemianti; Me. praemiandi et puniendi

1 With this somewhat depreciatory reference to women Moore
(Studies, iii. 326) compares V. E. i. 1, 1. 6 ; 4, 11. 18-23 ; Conv. iv. 19,
1. 88 ; Purg. xxix. 26 ; A. T. § 19, 1. 69.

2 Cf. Ars Poet. 76 : ' voti sententia compos' .

8165 N

178 LETTERS OF DANTE

gnatam totius. Nam si forma tractatus in toto est triplex,

250 in hac parte tantum a est duplex, scilicet divisio canticae
et cantuum. b Non eius potest esse propria forma divisio
prima, c quum ista pars sit primae divisionis. 195

255 § 13. Patet etiam libri titulus. d Nam e titulus totius
libri est : * Incipit Comoedia f ', etc. ut supra g ; titulus
autem huius partis est h : fc Incipit canticatertiaComoediae
Dantis, quae * dicitur Paradisus \

260 § 14. Inquisitis his tribus in j quibus variatur pars 200
a toto, videndum est de aliis tribus in quibus variatio
nulla k est a toto 1 . Agens igitur totius et partis est
ille qui dictus est, et totaliter esse videtur m .

265 § 15. Finis totius et partis esse posset u multiplex °,
scilicet p propinquus et remotus. Sed q omissa subtili 205
investigatione, dicendum est breviter quod finis totius
et partis est, removere viventes in hac vita de statu

270 miseriae, et perducere ad statum felicitatis.

§ 16. Genus r philosophiae sub quo hic in toto et
parte proceditur est morale negotium, 1 sive 8 ethica ; 210
quia non ad speculandum, sed ad opus 2 inventum * est

275 totum u et pars v . Nam si et w in aliquo loco vel passu x
pertractatur y ad modum speculativi negotii, hoc non «est

a Me. tamen b Me.V. cantuum et rhythmorum c V. esse propria
prima divisio ; Me. esseforma divisio prima ; M.^M. 2 essepro firma divisio
prima d M.^M^Me.V. titulusseude librititulo e Q.Namsi f M. 2
comoedia Dantis g V. omits etc. ut supra h 0. erit l M. 2 Me.
Dantis etc. quae j Me. omits in k V. nulla variatio l Me. a toto
etpp m V.O. videtur esse. n 0. potest ° M.^M. 2 et multiplex

D Me. sed « V. scilicet T V.O. Genus vero s M.^M.^V. seu

1 O. incoeptum u V. et totum v 0. omits et pars w 0. Nam etsi
x Me. passim y Me.V. pertractamus

1 See the note on this word, p. 169, n. 5.

2 Ethics i. 3.

EPISTOLA X 179

gratia speculativi negotii, sed gratia operis J ; quia ut a
280 ait Philosophus in secundo Metaphyskorum h ; ' ad ali- 215

quid et nunc c 2 speculantur practici aliquando \ d 3
§ 17. His itaque praemissis, ad expositionem literae

secundum quandam praelibationem accedendum est ;
285 circa quod^praesciendum est quod expositio literae e nil f

aliud est quam formae operis manifestatio. Dividitur 220

ergo ista pars, seu ista g tertia cantica quae Paradisus
290 dicitur, principaliter in duas partes, scilicet in prologum

et partem executivam. 4 Pars secunda incipit ibi h : • Sur-

git mortalibus per diversas fauces \ 5

§18. De parte prima sciendum est 1 quod, quamvis 225

a M.^M. 2 omit ut b Me. Metaphysices ; V '. Metaphysicae c O. tunc
4 V. aliquando etiam speculantur practici. e M.*M. 2 accedendum est.

Quodde expositione literae ; Me. a. est, et illud pronunciandum, quod expositio
literae ; O. a. est; at illud praenunciandum, q. e. I. f Me. nichil

e Me.O. omit ista h Me.V. add quasi in medio primi l M.*M. 2

Me.O. est sciendum

1 Cf. Mon. i. 2, 11. 26-36.

2 This, the reading of all four MSS., is confirmed by a reference
to the Antiqua Translatio of the Metaphysics, from which Dante is
here quoting (*ad aliquid et nunc speculantur practici'), which
is the form in which the passage is quoted by Guido da Pisa in his
commentary (see Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. viii. 154).

3 Metaphys. ii. 1 ; the rendering is very literal, the original being
irpos ti nal vvu Oiaipovaiv ol irpatcTiKoi. In the Oxford translation the
passage from which the quotation is taken is rendered (by W. D.
Ross) : ' The end of theoretical knowledge is truth, while that of
practical knowledge is action (for even if they consider how things
are, practical men do not study the cause in itself, but in some
relation and at some time) '.

4 That is, the introduction and the narrative proper, corre-
sponding to the proemio and trattato of V. N. § 19, 11. 93-5 ; and Conv.
iii. 2, 1. 2 ; 10, 11. 83-4 ; 12, 1. 37 ; iv. 2, 11. 121-5 ; 3, 11. 1-2, &c.
(see my article on ' Dante's uses of the word trattato in the Convivio
and Vita Nuova\ in Romania, xxxii. 565 if., 569).

5 Par. i. 37.

N 2

180 LETTERS OF DANTE

295 communi ratione posset dici exordium a , proprie autem
loquendo non debet dici b nisi prologus ; quod Philo-
sophus in tertio Rhetoricorum videtur innuere c , ubi dicit
quod ' prooemium est in d oratione rhetorica sicut pro-

300 logus in poetica, et praeludium in fistulatione '.* Est 230
etiam praenotandum, quod praeviatio e 2 ista, quae com-
muniter exordium dici potest, aliter fit a poetis, aliter f
a rhetoribus. Rhetores enim consuevere g praelibare

305 dicenda, ut animum comparent auditoris. 3 Sed poetae
non solum hoc faciunt, quinimmo post haec invocationem 235
quandam emittunt. Et hoc est eis conveniens, quia h

310 multa invocatione opus * est eis, quum J aliquid contra k
communem modum hominum a superioribus substantiis
petendum sit \ quasi divinum quoddam munus. Ergo
praesens prologus m dividitur in partes duas : in n prima 240

315 praemittitur quid dicendum sit, in secunda invocatur
Apollo ; et incipit secunda pars ibi : ' O bone Apollo, ad
ultimum laborem \ 4 etc.°

§ 19. Propter primam partem notandum quod ad

320 bene exordiendum tria requiruntur, ut dicit Tullius in 245
Nova Rhetorica, scilicet ut benevolum et p attentum et

a Me. dici posset exordium ; M.*0. posset exordium dici b Me. dici

debet c M.^M. 2 quod P. in secundo R. v. i. ; V. quod inprimo Rhetorice
v. i. Philosophus d O. prooemium est principiumin e M. X M. 2

praeiuratio ; V. deuiatio ; Me. O.praenunciatio f Y. aliter fit s M. 1
M. 2 V. concessere h Me. qua l V. omits opus j Me. quae cum ;
Y.quaeceu k 0. supra ! M. 2 Me.V. est m M.^M.. 2 opus

u M. X M. 2 quia in ° Me.V. omit etc. p M. 2 omits et

1 Rhet. iii. 14.

2 I conjecture, from the readings of M. 1 , M. 2 , and of V., that this
word (in the sense of 'preamble'), which is the reading of the
editio princeps, is the true reading, as against the facilior lectio of
Me. and O.

3 Aristotle, Rhet. iii. 14. 4 Par. i. 13.

EPISTOLA X 181

docilem reddat aliquis auditorem ; et hoc maxime in
admirabili genere causae, ut ipsemet Tullius dicit. 1

325 Quum ergo materia circa quam versatur praesens a trac-
tatus, sit admirabilis, et b propterea ad admirabile 250
reducenda ista tria intenduntur in principio exordii
sive prologi. Nam dicit se dicturum ea, quae qui

330 vidit in primo coelo retinere potuit. c In quo dicto
omnia illa tria comprehenduntur ; nam in utilitate
dicendorum benevolentia paratur ; in admirabilitate d 255
attentio ; in possibilitate docilitas. Utilitatem innuit,

335 quum recitaturum se dicit ea quae maxime e allec-
tiva sunt desiderii humani, scilicet gaudia Paradisi.
Admirabilitatem tangit, quum promittit se tam ardua,
tam sublimia dicere, scilicet conditiones regni coelestis. 260

340 Possibilitatem ostendit, quum dicit se dicturum ea f
quae mente retinere potuit; si enim ipse g , et alii
poterunt. Haec omnia tanguntur in verbis illis ubi

345 dicit se fuisse in primo coelo, et quod dicere vult de
regno coelesti quidquid in mente sua, quasi thesaurum, 265

a Me. primus b M. J 0. omit et c M. 2 ea quae qui vidit inprimo
coelo retinere non potuit ; Me.V. ea quae qui vidit retinere non potuit in
primo coelo ; O. ea, quae ex iis quae vidit in primo coelo retinere potuit
d Me. admiraiione e M. 2 maxima f Me.V. omit ea B Me.V.
homo ipse

1 De Inventione, i. 15, §§ 20, 21 : ' Exordium est oratio animum
auditoris idonee comparans ad reliquam dictionem : quod eveniet,
si eum benevolum, attentum, docilem fecerit ; quare qui bene
exordiri causam volet, eum necesse est genus suae causae diligenter
ante cognoscere. Genera causarum sunt quinque : honestum,
admirabile, humile, anceps, obscurum . . . admirabile [causae
genus est], a quo alienatus est animus eorum, qui audituri sunt.
. . . In admirabili genere causae, si non omnino infesti auditores
erunt, principio benevolentiam comparare licebit . . . '. Cf. what
Dante says on this same subject in the Convivio, ii. 7, 11. 53-67.

182 LETTERS OF DANTE

potuit retinere. Viso igitur de bonitate ac perfectione
primae partis prologi, ad literam accedatur.

350 § 20. Dicit ergo a quod ' gloria primi Motoris \ qui
Deus est, ' in omnibus partibus universi resplendet', sed
ita ut * in aliqua parte b magis, et c in aliqua minus \* 270
Quod autem ubique resplendeat, ratio et auctoritas 2

355 manifestat. Ratio sic : Omne quod est, aut habet esse
a se, aut ab alio. Sed constat, quod habere esse a se
non convenit nisi uni, scilicet primo, seu principio, qui
Deus est, quum d habere esse non e arguat per se necesse 275

360 esse f , et per se necesse esse non competat nisi uni, scilicet
primo, seu principio g , quod est causa omnium ; ergo
omnia quae sunt, praeter unum ipsum b , habent esse ab

365 alio. 1 3 Si ergo accipiatur ultimum 4 in universo, non j 5
quodcumque, manifestum est quod id habet esse ab ali- 280
quo ; et illud a quo habet, a se vel ab aliquo. k Si a se,
sic est primum ; si ab aliquo, et illud similiter vel a se,

370 vel ab aliquo l . Et esset sic procedere in infinitum in
causis agentibus, ut probatur in secundo m Metaphysi-

a Y.igitur b M. l omits parte c V. omits et d M.^M.^V.O.
Et quum e Me. omits non f M. X M. 2 arguatper se non necesse est

g V. omits qui Deus est . . . seu principio h M.^M. 2 V. praeter ipsum ;
Me. praeter unum l Me.V. ab aliis j O. vel k 0. ab aliquo habet
1 M. x M. 2 Me. ab aliquo et est naturaliter m M. x M. 2 Me.V. tertio

1 Par. i. 1-3.

2 Cf. Epist. iii (iv). 25-7 ; Moore (Studies, iii. 325) also compares
Par. xxiv. 133-8 ; xxvi. 25-6, 46-7 ; Mon. i. 5, 11. 11, 20-1 ; ii. 1,
11. 60-4 ; iii. 16, 11. 63-71.

3 Moore compares Conv. iv. 18, 11. 13-22. On the passage in the
text, see Biagi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xvi. 35.

4 That is, the furthest removed from the first cause.

6 This is the reading of all four MSS., and, as Biagi argues
(loc. cit.), is manifestly right — ' if we take, not anything whatsoever,
but that thing which is the most.remote in the universe '.

EPISTOLA X 183

corum. 1 Et sic erit devenire a ad primum, qui Deus est. 285
Et sic, mediate vel immediate, omne quod est habet

375esse b ab Eo ; quia.ex eo quod causa secunda recipit c
a prima, influit super causatum ad modum recipientis et
repercutientis d 2 radium, propter quod causa prima est

380 magis causa. e Et hoc dicitur in libro De Causis, quod 290
6 omnis causa primaria plus influit super suum causatum,
quam causa universalis secunda \ 3 Sed hoc quantum ad
esse.

385 § 21. Quantum vero ad essentiam, probo sic : Omnis
essentia, praeter primam, est causata ; aliter f essent g 295
plura quae essent h per se necesse esse, quod * est impos-
sibile. Quia j causatum k est l vel a natura m ^el ab

a M.^M.^Me. Metaphysicorum erit devenire ; 0. Metaphysicorum. Quod
quum sit impossibile, erit d. b Me.V. omne quod habet esse, habet esse

c M.^M.^O. recepit d M. a M. 2 Me.V. respicientis ; 0. respuentis • Me.
V. causa prima magis f Me.V. alias e M. 1 esse h M. 2 esse

1 M. l O. necesse quod; M. 2 necesse est quod J 0. Quod k Me. causata
1 M. 2 Me.V. omit est m 0. a natura est

1 Metaphys. ii. 2 (ad init.). There is no MS. authority for the
words introduced here in the Oxford text, which are an interpola-
tion of Giuliani.

2 For respicientis, the reading of all four MSS., which is mani-
festly wrong, Fraticelli substituted respuentis (as in O.), and Torri
and Giuliani rejicientis. But it is a question here, not of rejection,
still less of violent rejection, but of reflection. I have little doubt
that repercutientis (in MSS. repcuttitis) is the right reading ; Dante
frequentJy uses ripercuotere of reflected light ; cf. Conv. ii. 14, 1. 75 ;
15, 1. 57 ; iii. 14, 1. 48 ; iv. 20, 1. 78 ; and especially iii. 14, 11. 35-7,
where Dante is discussing (as here) the transmission of the
influence of the celestial Intelligences : 'Nelle Intelligenze raggia
la divina luce senza mezzo, nell' altre [cose] si ripercuote da queste
Intelligenze prima illuminate' (cf. what Dante says in § 21,
11. 400-4, of this letter) ; so also Virgil, Aen. viii. 23: ' lumen
repercussum ' ; and Ovid, Metam. ii. 110 : 'repercusso Phoebo'.

8 Prop. i, init.

184 LETTERS OF DANTE

390 intellectu ; et quod a a natura est b , per consequens causa-
tum est ab intellectu, quum natura sit opus intelligentiae.
Omne ergo quod est causatum, est causatum c ab aliquo 300
intellectu d mediate e vel immediate. Quum ergo virtus

395 sequatur essentiam cuius est virtus, si essentia intellec-
tiva, est tota l et unius f quae g causat. Et sic quemad-
modum prius devenire erat ad primam causam ipsius

400 esse, sic nunc essentiae et virtutis. Propter h quod 305
patet quod omnis essentia et virtus procedat * a prima,
et intelligentiae inferiores recipiant quasi a radiante, et
reddant radios superioris ad suum inferius, ad modum

405 speculorum. 2 Quod satis aperte tangere videtur Diony-
sius 3 de coelesti hierarchia loquens. 4 Et propter hoc 310

a M.^M. 2 quo b M.V. omit est c Me. omits est causatum

d V. omits quum natura sit opus . . . intellectu e Me. uel mediate

f O. si essentia sit inteUectiva, virtus tota est unius e Me. quo h V. per
1 Me.V. procedit

1 There is no authority for the interpolated virtus in O., which
is due to Giuliani.

2 Cf. Conv. iii. 14, 11. 35-7, quoted in note 2 on p. 183.

8 DionysiustheAreopagite; cf. Epist.viii. 117, and note. Dionysius
is placed by Dante in the Heaven of the Sun, among the great
doctors of the Church, Par. x. 115-17: ' quel cero Che, giuso in
carne, piii addentro vide L'angelica natura e il ministero '.

4 Coelest. Hier. iii, § 2 : ' Pulchritudo divina ut simplex, ut bona,
ut perfectionis autor pura quidem est, nullamque prorsus ad-
mixtionem dissimilitudinis suscipit. Verum singulos pro meritis
lucis suae participes facit ; et sacrosancto mysterio perficit,
quantum quisque initiatus congrue illius in se immutabilem
exprimere effigiem nititur. Est ergo sacratissimi huius functionis
intentio, Deo quantum fieri potest similem evadere, unumque cum
illo fieri. Quae profecto destinatio Deum ipsum habet totius
sacratioris scientiae et actionis praeceptorem ; inque illius augustis-
simam speciem intenta semper ac fiimiter, atque ad illam se pro
virium modo componens. Eos etiam qui secum divina sectantur,
Dei signa et imagines efficit, ac perlucida specula et omni labe

EPISTOLA X 185

dicitur in libro De Causis quod * omnis intelligentia est
plena formis \ x Patet ergo quomodo ratio manifestat

410 divinum lumen, id est divinam bonitatem, sapientiam et
virtutem, 2 resplendere ubique.

§ 22. Similiter etiam ac scientius a 3 facit auctoritas. 315
Dicit enim Spiritus Sanctus per Hieremiam 4 : ' Num-

415 quid non b coelum et terram ego impleo ? ' et in
Psalmo c 5 : ' Quo ibo a spiritu tuo ? et quo a facie tua
fugiarn ? Si ascendero in coelum, tu illic es ; si descen-
dero in infernum, ades. Si sumpsero pennas meas ' etc. 320

420 Et Sapientia 6 dicit d quod ' Spiritus Domini replevit
orbem terrarum \ Et Ecclesiasticus e in f quadragesimo
secundo 7 : ' Gloria Domini plenum est opus eius \ Quod

425 etiam scriptura paganorum contestatur ; nam g Lucanus
in nono 8 : 4 Iuppiter est quodcumque vides, quocumque h 325
moveris \

§ 28. Bene ergo dictum est, quum dicit quod divinus *
radius, seu j divina gloria, ' per universum penetrat et

a 0. scientia b Me.V. omit Numquid non c V. psalmo cxxxviii
d U. 2 dicitur e Me.V.O. 1 0. 2 Ecclesiastes ; M. X M. 2 Ecclesiastici c M. 1
M. 2 Me.V. omit in s Me.V. unde h Me. quod cumque

1 M.^M. 2 dictum quod divinus j Me.V. siue

pura, dignaque quibus principalis illius ac divinae lucis suavis-
simus radius influat. Quae ubi indultum sibi sacratissimum iubar
affatim hauserint, hoc ipsa postmodum absque invidia sequentibus
fundunt.' J Prop. x, init.

2 That is, the Holy Trinity ; cf. Inf. iii. 5-6 ; and see Moore,
Studies, iii. 334.

3 This, the reading of all the MSS., is obviously right as against
scientia, Witte's emendation. Not ' scientia et auctoritas ' are in
question, but ' ratio et auctoritas ' (§ 20, 11. 353, 354).

4 Jerem. xxiii. 24.

5 Psalm cxxxix (Vulg. cxxxviii). 7-9.

8 Wisd. i. 7. 7 Ecclus. xlii. 16. 8 Phars. ix. 580.

186 LETTERS OF DANTE

430 resplendet': penetrat quantum ad essentiam ; resplendet a
quantum ad esse. Quod autem subicit b de magis et 330
minus habet veritatem in manifesto, quoniam videmus
in aliquo excellentiori gradu essentiam aliquam, aliquam

435 vero in inferiori c ; ut patet de coelo et elementis, quorum
quidem illud incorruptibile, illa vero corruptibilia sunt. 1
§ 24. Et postquam d praemisit hanc veritatem, pro- 335

440 sequitur ab ea, circumloquens Paradisum ; et dicit quod
fuit in coelo illo quod de gloria Dei e , sive de luce, recipit
affluentius. 2 Propter quod sciendum quod illud coelum r
est coelum supremum, continens corpora universa, et

445 a nullo contentum, 3 intra quod omnia corpora g moventur 340
(ipso in sempiterna quiete permanente), 4 a h nulla cor-
porali substantia virtutem recipiens. 5 Et dicitur 1 em-

450 pyreum, quod est idem quod coelum igne sive ardore j
flagrans 6 ; non quod in eo sit ignis vel ardor materialis,
sed spiritualis, qui k est amor sanctus, sive caritas. 7 345

a V. omits penetrat quantum . . . resplendet b M. ] M. 2 subiici

c M. 1 videmus in aliquo excellentiori gradu essentiam aliquam aliqua vero in
inferiori ; M. 2 Me.V. v. in a. e. g. essentiam aliquam vero in i. ; O. videmus
aliquid in excellentiori gradu esse, aliquid vero in inferiori d M. X M. 2

priusquam e V. Domini f V. omits coelum e V. omits corpora
h M.^M. 3 moventur ipso in sempitema quiete permanente vita (M. 2 vitas) et
omnia sua contenta et a ; Me. m. in primo s. q. p. vitas et omnia sua con-
tenta et a ; V. m. in prima s. q. p.a ' Me. dicit j M. 1 seu ardore ;
Me.V. sui ardoris k Me.V. quod

1 In illustration of the doctrine expounded in this section
Giuliani and Moore (Studies, iii. 335) refer to Par. xxxi. 22-3;
Conv. iii. 7, 11. 15-16; 14, 11. 14-28; iv. 21, 11. 47-8; V. E. i. 16,
11. 48-52.

2 Par. i. 4-5 : ' Nel ciel che piii della sua luce prende Fu' io '.
8 Cf. Gonv. ii. 4, 11. 35-7.

^ 4 Cf. Conv. ii. 4, 11. 17-19, 25, 28 ; 15, 11. 165-7 ; Par. i. 122 ;
ii. 112. b cf. Par. xxx. 39.

6 Cf. Conv. ii. 4, 11. 14-16. 7 Cf. Pitrg. xxvi. 63.

EPISTOLA X 187

§ 25. Quod autem de divina luce plus recipiat, potest

455 probari per duo. Primo per suum omnia continere et
a nullo contineri ; secundo per sempiternam suam a
quietem sive pacem. Quantum ad primum probatur
sic : Continens se habet ad contentum in naturali situ, 350

460 sicut formativum b ad formabile, ut habetur in c quarto
Physicorum. 1 Sed in naturali situ totius universi primum
coelum est omnia continens; ergo se habet ad omnia

465 sicut formativum d ad formabile e ; quod est se habere
per modum causae. Et quum omnis vis causandi sit 355
radius quidam profluens f a prima causa, quae Deus est, 2
manifestum est quod illud coelum quod magis habet

470 rationem causae, 3 magis de luce divina recipit.

§ 26. Quantum ad secundum probatur sic : Omne
quod movetur, movetur propter aliquid quod non habet, 360
quod est terminus « sui motus ; sicut coelum lunae move-

475 tur propter aliquam partem sui, quae non habet illud
ubi ad quod movetur ; et quia sui pars quaelibet non
adepto quolibet h ubi (quod * est impossibile j ) movetur k

480 ad aliud, inde est quod semper movetur et nunquam 365
quiescit, et l est eius appetitus. Et quod dico de coelo

a M. X M. 2 omit suam b M. 1 M. 2 Me. V.formatum c M. x M. 2 Me.V.
omit in d M..*Y. formatuum e Witte notes (what Boffitooverlooks)
that one of the Magliabechi texts (M. 1 or M. 2 ) omits ut habetur quarto
. . . adformabile f Me.V. influens g V. terminum h Me. et quia
sui pars quaelibet eius pars adepto ; V. quamlibet eius partem ademptam
esse quolibet ; 0. et quia pars quaelibet eius non adepto quolibet l Me.

omits quod J V. impossibile est k V. ideo movetur l 0. ut

1 Phys. iv. 4.

2 For this theory that celestial influences are conveyed by
means of the rays of light of the several heavenly bodies, Moore
(Studies, iii. 325) compares Conv. ii. 7, 11. 90 ff. ; iii. 14, 11. 32 ff. ; and
Purg. xxv. 89 ; Par. vii. 74 ; viii. 2-3 ; xix. 90 ; xxix. 29.

8 Cf. Mon. i. 11, 11. 129-30 ; and see Moore, Studies, iii. 333.

188 LETTERS OF DANTE

lunae, intelligendum est de omnibus praeter primum.
Omne ergo quod movetur, est in aliquo defectu, et non

485 habet totum suum esse simul. Illud igitur a coelum quod
a nullo movetur,in se et b in qualibet sui parte habet quid- 370
quid potest modo perfecto, ita quod c motu non indiget ad
suam perfectionem. Et quum omnis perfectio sit radius

490 Primi, quod est in summo gradu perfectionis, manifestum
est quod coelum primum magis recipit de luce Primi, qui
est Deus. Ista d tamen ratio videtur arguere ad destruc- 375

495 tionem antecedentis, 1 ita quod e simpliciter et secundum
formam arguendi non probat. Sed si consideremus
materiam eius, bene probat, quia de quodam sempiterno,
in quo posset f defectus sempiternari : ita quod s, si

500 Deus non dedit sibi h motum, patet quod non dedit sibi j 380
materiam J in aliquo egentem. Et per hanc k supposi-
tionem tenet argumentum ratione materiae ; et similis
modus arguendi est l ac si diceremus m : si homo est, est

505 risibile 112 ; nam in omnibus convertibilibus tenet similis
ratio gratia materiae. Sic ergo patet quod ° quum 385
dicit, 'in illo coelo quod plus de luce Dei p recipit',
intelligit circumloqui Paradisum,sive coelum empyreum. 3

a Me. ergo b Me.V. omit et c V. itaque ; O. eo quod d M. 2 ita
e V. itaque ; 0. eo quod f Me. potest g 0. itaque h O. illi

1 O. illi J M.'M. 2 V. naturam k M. 2 et hanc l Me.V. et est

similis modus arguendi m M.^M.^Me.O. dicerem n M. l M. 2 visibile ;
V.O. risibilis ° M. 2 Me.V. omit quod p M. 1 rei

1 Moore {Studies, iii. 330) compares Conv. iv. 12, 11. 123-4 ; Mon.
ii. 12, 1. 60; A.T. § 12, 11. 1-2; § 13, 11. 1-2; and Conv. iv. 14,
11. 11-12.

2 Cf.Arist.,Part.4m'm.iii.lO; andF.^.ii. 1,11.42-4. Theevidence
of three (Me. M. 1 M. 2 ) out of the four MSS. points to the neuter.

3 On the argument employed in this section, which Moore
describes as ' both obscure and highly technical ', see his Studies,
iii. 328-30.

EPISTOLA X 189

510 § 27. Praemissis quoque rationibus consequenter a
dicit Philosophus in primo De Coelo, 1 quod b coelum
' tanto c habet honorabiliorem materiam d istis e inferio- 390

515 ribus, quanto magis elongatum est ab his quae hic ' f 2 .
Adhuc etiam g posset adduci quod dicit Apostolus ad
Ephesios de Christo : * Qui ascendit super omnes coelos,
ut impleret h omnia'. 3 Hoc est coelum deliciarum

520 Domini ; de quibus deliciis dicitur contra Luciferum per 395
Ezechielem : ' Tu signaculum similitudinis, sapientia
plenus et perfectione decorus, 1 4 in deliciis Paradisi Dei j
fuisti'. 5

525 § 28. Et postquam dixit quod fuit in loco illo Para-
disi per suam circumlocutionem, prosequitur dicens se 400
vidisse aliqua quae recitare non potest qui descendit. 6
Et reddit causam, dicens quod * intellectus in tantum

a Me. consonanter uel consequenter ; 0. consonanter b Me.V. ubi dicit
quod c V. tantum d V. materiam honorabiliorem e 0. suis

1 Me.O. hic sunt g MJM. 2 ^ h Me.V. adimpleret ! 0. perfectvs
decore J Me. Bei Paradisi

1 De Coelo, i. 2. Moore (Studies, iii. 330) compares Conv. iii. 5,
11. 38 ff. ; A. T. § 4, 11. 1-7 ; § 23, 11. 14 ff. ; also Conv. ii. 4, 11. 32-4 ;
for the principle here enunciated.

2 This, the reading of M. 1 M. 2 V., is confirmed by the text of
the Antiqua Translatio of the De Coelo from which Dante is here
quoting : ' . . . tanto honorabiliorem habens naturam, quanto
quidem plus elongatum est ab his quae hic \ 3 Ephes. iv. 10.

4 This, the reading of all four MSS., has been altered by the
editors so as to make the quotation conform to the text of the
Vulgate as we have it.

5 Ezek. xxviii. 12-13 ; cf. Inf. xxxiv. 34 ; Purg. xii. 25-6 ; Par. xix.
46-8. The application of this prophecy of Ezekiel against 'the
prince of Tyre ' to Lucifer was, as Moore points out (Studies, iii.
341-2), a common patristic interpretation.

6 Par. i. 5-6 : ' vidi cose che ridire Ne sa, ne puo chi di lassii
discende '.

190 LETTERS OF DANTE

530 profundat se ' in ipsum desiderium suum, quod est Deus a ,
' quod memoria sequi non potest '.* Ad quae intelli-
genda sciendum est, quod intellectus" humanus in hac 405
vita, propter connaturalitatem et affinitatem quam habet

535 ad substantiam intellectualem separatam, 2 quando ele-
vatur, in tantum elevatur ut memoria post reditum
deficiat, propter transcendisse humanum modum. Et
hoc b insinuatur nobis per Apostolum ad Corinthios 3 410

540 loquentem, ubi dicit : ' Scio hominem c (sive in corpore d ,
sive extra corpus, nescio, Deus scit), raptum usque ad
tertium coelum, 6 et audivit arcana verba, f quae non

545 licet homini loqui \ 4 Ecce, postquam 8 humanam ratio-
nem intellectus ascensione h transierat, quae * extra se 415
agerentur J non recordabatur. Hoc etiam k est insinua-

a V. omits in ipsum . . . quod est Deus b M. 1 omits hoc c 0.

huiusmodi hominem d V. corpus e O. quoniam raptus est in Paradisum
1 Me.V. vidit arcana verba ; M. 1 viditarcana Dei e V. per quam ; M. 1
per quem h M. X V. ascensionem ; Me. ascensio ! Me.V. qui j Me.
V. ageretur k Me. et hoc

1 Par. i. 7-9 : ' Perche, appressando se al suo disire, Nostro
intelletto si profonda tanto, Che retro la memoria non puo ire '.

2 That is, the angels ; cf. Conv. ii. 5, 1. 6 : ' sustanze separate '
(so iii. 7, 1. 47 ; 8, 1. 143) ; Conv. iii. 4, 1. 92 : ' sustanze partite da
materia ' ; Purg. xviii. 49 : 'forma sustanzial, che setta E da materia'

3 2 Cor. xii. 2-4.

4 Here again the modern Vulgate text has been substituted for
the MS. reading by the editors. If the MS. reading (with the
correction of audivit for vidit) represents what Dante wrote, he
must have been quoting from memory, several of the phrases of
the original being transposed in the quotation ; the actual Vulgate
text of 2 Cor. xii. 2-4 is : ' Scio hominem in Christo ante annos
quatuordecim (sive in corpore nescio, sive extra corpus nescio,
Deus scit), raptum huiusmodi usque ad tertium coelum. Et scio
huiusmodi hominem (sive in corpore, sive extra corpus, nescio,
Deus scit), quoniam raptus est in paradisum, et audivit arcana
verba, quae non licet homini loqui.'

EPISTOLA X 191

tum a nobis in Matthaeo, 1 ubi tres discipuli ceciderunt
550 in faciem suam, nihil postea recitantes, quasi obliti. Et
in Ezechiele 2 scribitur : ' Vidi et cecidi in faciem meam \
Et ubi ista invidis non sufficiant, legant Richardum b de 420
sancto Victore 3 in libro De Contemplatione 4 ; legant
555 Bernardum 5 in libro De Consideratione 6 ; legant Augu-

a M. X V. insinuatur b 0. Ricardum

1 Matt. xvii. 1-8. 2 Ezek. i. 28 {Vulg. ii. 1).

3 Riohard of St. Victor, chief of the mystics of Cent. xii, is placed
by Dante among the great doctors of the Church in the Heaven of
the Sun, Par. x. 131-2: 'Riccardo, Che a considerar fu piu che
viro \

4 Otherwise known as Beniamin maior (see Gardner, Dante and the
Mystics, pp. 43 n., 165) : * Cum enim per mentis excessum supra
sjve intra nosmetipsos in divinorum contemplationem rapimur,
exteriorum omnium statim imo non solum eorum quae extra nos,
verum etiam eorum quae in nobis sunt omnium obliviscimur. Et
item cum ab illo sublimitatis statu ad nosmetipsos redimus, illa
quae prius supra nosmetipsos vidimus in ea veritate vel claritate
qua prius perspeximus ad nostram memoriam revocare omnino
non possumus. Et quamvis inde aliquid in memoria teneamus,
et quasi per medium velum et velut in medio nebulae videamus,
nec modum quidem videndi, nec qualitatem visionis compre-
hendere, vel recordari sufficimus. Et mirum in modum remini-
scentes non reminiscimur, et non reminiscentes reminiscimur,
dum videntes non pervidemus, et aspicientes non perspicimus,
et intendentes non penetramus' (iv. 23).

6 St. Bernard of Clairvaux, ' il santo sene ' of Par. xxxi. 94 ;
' quel contemplante ', Par. xxxii. 1 ; Dante's guide when Beatrice
leaves him.

6 Written towards the close of St. Bernard's life, between 1149
and 1153, and dedicated to Eugenius III (see Gardner, Dante and
ihe Mystics, pp. 123 ff.). Dante apparently refers to the following
passage : ' At omnium maximus [viator], qui spreto ipso usu rerum
et sensuum, quantum quidem humanae fragilitati fas est, non
ascensoriis gradibus, sed inopinatis excessibus avolare interdum
contemplando ad illa sublimia consuevit. Ad hoc ultimum genus
illos pertinere reor excessus Pauli ' (v. 2, § 3).

192 LETTERS OF DANTE

stinum * in libro De Quantitate Animae? et non invide-
bunt. a Si vero in dispositionem elevationis tantae
propter b peccatum loquentis oblatrarent c 3 , legant 425

560 Danielem, ubi et Nabuchodonosor invenient contra
peccatores aliqua vidisse divinitus, oblivionique man-
dasse. 4 Nam ' Qui oriri solem suum facit super bonos et

565 malos, et pluit super iustos et iniustos \ 5 aliquando
misericorditer d ad conversionem °, aliquando severe ad 430
punitionem, plus et minus, ut vult, gloriam suam quan-
tumcumque male viventibus manifestat.

570 § 29. Vidit ergo, ut dicit, aliqua ' quae referre nescit
et nequit rediens ' G . Diligenter quippe notandum est

a Me. et non invideant alias et non invidebunt b M. 1 per c Me.

oblaterent d Me. misericorditus e V. omits ad conversionem

1 St. Augustine, whom Dante places in the Celestial Rose in the
Empyrean, Par. xxxii. 35 ; cf. Epist. viii. 116, and note.

2 A short work, in the form of a dialogue, written c. 388, within
two years of St. - Augustine's conversion (see Gardner, op. cit.,
pp. 44 ff.). * Dante seems to have had in mind the following
passage : ' Iam vero in ipsa visione atque contemplatione veritatis,
quae septimus atque ultimus animae gradus est (neque iam gradus,
sed quaedam mansio, quo illis gradibus pervenitur), quae sint
gaudia, quae perfruitio summi et veri boni, cuius serenitatis atque
aeternitatis afflatus, quid ego dicam ? Dixerunt haec quantum
dicenda esse iudicaverunt, magnae quaedam et incomparabiles
animae, quas etiam vidisse ac videre ista credimus. Illud plane
ego nunc audeo tibi dicere, nos si cursum quem nobis Deus
imperat, et quem tenendum suscepimus, constantissime tenueri-
mus, perventuros per Virtutem Dei atque Sapientiam ad summam
illam Causam, vel summum Auctorem, vel summum Principium
rerum omnium . . . ' (xxxiii. 76). On Dante's collocation of these
three mystical writers, see Gardner, op. cit, pp. 42-3.

3 Cf. the similar use of latrare in Conv. iv. 3, 1. 59.

4 Dan. ii. 3-5. On Dante's interpretation of this passage, see
Moore, Studies, iii. 342.

6 Matt. v. 45. 6 Par. i. 6.

EPISTOLA X 193

quod dicit ' nescit et nequit \ Nescit quia a oblitus, 435

575 nequit quia, si b recordatur c et contentum d tenet, sermo
tamen deficit. Multa namque per intellectum videmus, 6
quibus signa vocalia desunt ; quod satis Plato insinuat
in suis libris per assumptionem metaphorismorum,

580 multa enim per lumen intellectuale vidit quae sermone 440
proprio nequivit exprimere.

§ 30. Postea dicit se dicturum illa quae de regno
coelesti retiriere potuit ; et hoc dicit esse materiam sui

585 operis ; quae qualia sint et quanta, in parte executiva
patebit. 445

§ 31. Deinde quum dicit : * O bone Apollo V etc., f
facit invocationem suam. Et dividitur ista pars in
partes duas : in prima invocando petit ; in secunda sua-

590 det Apollini petitionem factam, remunerationem quan-
dam praenuntians g ; et incipit secunda pars ibi : ' O 450
divina virtus \ 2 Prima pars dividitur in partes duas :

595 in prima petit divinum auxilium ; in secunda tangit
necessitatem suae petitionis, quod est iustificare ipsam
ibi h : 'Hucusque alterum iugum Parnassi *, 8 etc*

§ 32. Haec est sententia secundae partis prologi in 455

600 generali : in speciali vero non exponam ad praesens.
Urget J * enim me rei familiaris angustia, ut k haec et alia
utilia rei publicae 4 derelinquere * oporteat. Sed spero
de Magnificentia vestra, ut m alias 11 habeatur ° procedendi

605 ad utileni expositionem facultas. 460

a Me. qui D V. et si c Me. recordatus d V. conceptum e V.
videmus per intellectum f Me. omits etc. g Me. pronuntians n O.
ipsam ; et incipit ibi * Me. omits etc. * Me. urguit k V. ita ut
1 V. omittere m M. 1 ita ut n M. 1 aliter ° M. 1 habetur

1 Par. i. 13 ff. 2 p ar .i. 22 ff.

s Par. i. 16 ff. « C f. Mon. i. 1, 11. 16-17.

2165 O

194 LETTERS OF DANTE

§ 33. De a parte vero b executiva,quae fuit divisa iuxta c
totum prologum, nec dividendo * nec sententiando quid-
quam d dicetur ad praesens ; nisi hoc, quod ibi e pro-

610 cedetur ascendendo de coelo in coelum, et recitabitur f
de g animabus beatis inventis in h quolibet orbe, et quod x 465
vera illa j beatitudo in sentiendo k veritatis principium 1

615 consistit 2 ; ut patet per Iohannem 3 ibi : 4 Haec est vita
aeterna m 4 , ut cognoscant te Deum verum ', etc. ; et per
Boetium in tertio De Consolatione 5 ibi : 4 Te cernere
finis \ Inde est quod ad ostendendum n gloriam beati- 470

620 tudinis in illis animabus, ab eis, tamquam videntibus
omnem veritatem, 6 multa quaerentur ° quae magnam
habent utilitatem et delectationem. 7 Et quia, invento
principio seu primo, videlicet Deo, nihil est quod ulterius

625 quaeratur, quum sit Alpha et O p 8 , idest principium et 475

a M. l V. in b V. omits vero c M.^Me. contra d Me. quocg
e M. X V. ubi; Me. ubique f M. J Me.V. recitatur g M.^Me.V. in

h V. et l M. X V. qua; Me. quia j Me.V. illa vera k M.^Me.V.
sententiae ' M. x Me.V. principio m M. 2 0. vera beatitudo n V.

ostendendam ° M. x Me. quaeruntur p V. Alpha et Omega; M. ] M. 2
A ; Me. Aetw; O. A et

1 Cf. Dante's similar practice of 'dividing' the poems of the
Vita Nuova and Convivio for the purposes of his commentary on
them ; e. g. V. N. § 3, 11. 91-5 ; § 7, 11. 38-49 ; § 8, 11. 35-44, &c. ;
and Conv. ii. 2, 11. 58-74 ; 13, 11. 75-7 (where ' non e qui mestiere
di procedere dividendo, e a lettera sponendo ' corresponds exactly
to the phrase ' nec dividendo nec sententiando ' in the text) ; iii.
1, 11. 100-11 ; iv. 2, 11. 1-19 ; 3, 11. 2-17, &c.

2 Moore (Studies, iii. 331) compares Par. xxviii. 106-11 ; and
xiv. 40-2. 3 John xvii. 3.

4 This is the reading of the Vulgate, and of three MSS. (M 1 . Me.
V.)lout of the four. 5 Cons. Phil. iii. met. 9.

6 On this attribute of the glorified spirits of ' seeing all things in
God ', see Moore, Studies, iii. 332.

7 Moore (Studies, iii. 298) compares Conv. iv. 4, 11. 136-7.

8 Dante, though he was probably ignorant of the Greek charac-

EPISTOLA X 195

finis, ut visio Iohannis designat, 1 in ipso Deo terminatur
tractatus, qui est benedictus in saecula saeculorum a . /

a M.'M. 2 V. add Explicit Epistola Dantis

Translation

To the magnificent and most victorious Lord, tJie Lord Can
Grande della Scala, Vicar-General ofthe most Jwly princi-
pality of Caesar in tJie city ofVerona, and town of Vicenza, \
Jiis most devoted servant, JDante AligJiieri, a Florentine by ^T
birtJi, not by disposition, prayetJi long and Jiappy life, and
perpetual increase of the glory of Jiis name.

§ 1. The illustrious renown of your Magnificence, which
wakeful Fame spreads abroad as she flies, affects divers

ters, certainly was acquainted with the name alpha, as is proved
by Par. xxvi. 17 ; but there is no evidence that he was acquainted
with the word omega, though (if the editors are to be trusted) it
occurs in some of the early commentaries on the Commedia (e. g. in
Jacopo della Lana, Ottimo Comento, Pietro di Dante, Benvenuto
da Imola, Buti, and Anonimo Fiorentino). Of three MSS. of the
Vulgate consulted in the Bodleian two (Laucl Lat. 8, of Cent. xii ;
and Laud Lat. 9, of Cent. xiii) have ' alpha et cu ' in Rev. i. 8 ; xxi. 6;
xxii. 13 ; while the third (Laud Lat. 10, of Cent. xiii) has ' a et w \
The word was unknown to Evrard de Bethune, who in his Graecis-
mus registers, not omicron and omega, but otomicron and otomega (i. e.
6 to fUKpov and o to fiiya) : ' Quodque micros breve sit comprobat
otomicron'' (viii. 211) ; ' Quartaque vocalis oto sit, fit ab hoc otomega'
(viii. 232). Similarly, Giovanni da Genova in his Catholicon says
(s. v. Otomega) : l Aficros interpretatur brevis sive minor. Et com-
ponitur cum oto quod estapud grecos nomen istius elementi o; et
dicitur otomicron, quasi minor o, quo nomine vocant hoc elementum
o quum breviatur, et figuram illius representativam sic factam o ;
quum vero producitur vocant illud elementum, et illius representa-
tivam figuram sic factam qj, otomega, quasi o longa, ab oto quod est o,
et mega vel megalon quod est longum.' It should be noted that
under Alpha Giovanni da Genova, in quotingEeu. i. 8, writes: 'ego
sum alpha et o, principium et finis ' ; and that Dante himself in
Par. xxvi. 17 writes, not ' Alfa ed Omega ', but ' Alfa ed \
1 Rev. i. 8 ; xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13.

o2

196 LETTERS OF DANTE

persons in divers ways, so that some it uplifts with the
hope of good fortune, while others it casts down with the
dread of destruction. The report whereof, overtopping
all deeds of recent times,I erstwhile did deem extravagant,
as going beyond the appearance of truth. But that con-
tinued uncertainty might not keep me longer in suspense,
even as the Queen of the South sought Jerusalem, and as
Pallas sought Helicon, so did I seek Verona, in order to
examine with my own trusty eyes the things of which
I had heard. And there was I witness of your splendour,
there was I witness and partaker of your bounty ; and
whereas I had formerly suspected the reports to be some-
what unmeasured, I afterwards recognized that it was
V the facts themselves that were beyond measure. Whence
it came to pass that whereas through hearsay alone, with
acertain subjection of mind, I had previously become well
disposed towards you, at the firs,t sight of you * I became
your most devoted servant and friend.

§ 2. Nor do I think that in assuming the name of
friend I shall lay myself open to a charge of presumption,
as some perchance might object; inasmuch as unequals
no less than equals are united by the sacred tie of friend-
ship. For if one should examine friendships which have
been pleasant and profitable, it will be evident that in
many cases the bond has been between persons of
superior station and their inferiors. And if our atten-
tion be directed to true friendship for its own sake, shall
we not find that the friends of illustrious and mighty
princes have many a time been men obscure in condition
but of distinguished virtue ? Why not? since even the
friendship of God and man is in no wise impeded by the
disparity between them. But if any man consider this
assertion unseemly, let him hearken to the Holy Spirit
when it declares that certain men have been partakers of
its friendship. For in Wisdom we read, concerning

1 \ Ex visu primordii ', for ' ex visus primordio ' (see Torri, op. cit.
p. 108, n. 13). Foscolo (Discorso sul Testo del Poema cli Danie, p. 178)
and Fraticelli render ' al primo vedervi'; Passerini, l al primo
conoscervi '.

EPISTOLA X 197

wisdom : ' For she is a treasure unto men that never
faileth ; which they that use are made partakers of the
friendship of God\ But the common herd in their
ignorance judge without discernment ; and even as they
imagine the sun to be a foot across, so they judge with
regard to questions of conduct ; and they are deceived by
their foolish credulity with regard to both the one and the
other matter. But it does not become us, to whom it has
been given to know what is best in our nature, to follow
in.the footsteps of the common herd ; nay, rather are we
bound to oppose their errors. For those who have vigour
of intellect and reason, being endowed with a certain
divine liberty, are not restricted by precedent. Nor is
this to be wondered at, for it is not they who receive
direction from the laws, but rather the laws from them.
It is manifest, therefore, that what I said above, namely
that I was your most devoted servant and friend, in no
wise savours of presumption.

§ 3. Esteeming, then, your friendship as a most precious
treasure, I desire to preserve it with assiduous forethought
and anxious care. Therefore, since it is a doctrine of
ethics that friendship is equalized and preserved by reci-
procity, it is my wish to preserve due reciprocity in
making a return for the bounty more than once conferred
upon me. For which reason I have often and long
examined such poor gifts as I can offer, and have set them
out separately, and scrutinized each in turn, in order to
decide which would be the most worthy and the most
acceptable to you. And I have found nothing more
suitable even for your exalted station than the sublime
cantica of the Comedy which is adorned with the title of
Paradise ; this, then, dedicated to yourself, with the
present letter to serve as its superscription, I inscribe,
offer, and in fine commend to you.

§ 4. TsTor does the simple ardour of my affection permit
me to pass over in silence the consideration that in this
offering there may seem to be greater honour and fame
conferred on the patron than on the gift ; the rather that
in the address I shall appear to such as read with attention

198 LETTERS OF DANTE

to have given utterance to a forecast as to the increase of
the glory of your name — and this of set purpose. But

\ eagerness for your favour, for which I thirst, heedless of
envy, will urge me forward to the goal which was my aim
from the first. And so, having made an end of what
I had to say in epistolary form, I will now in the capacity
of commentator essay a few words by way of introduction
to the wol^whicTTis offered for your acceptance.

§ 5. As the Philosopher says in the second book of the
Metaphysics, ' as a thing is in respect of being, so is it in
respect of truth ' ; the reason of which is, that the truth
concerning a thing, which consists in the truth as in its
subject, is the perfect likeness of the thing.as it is. Now
of things which exist, some are such as to have absolute
being in themselves ; while others are such as to have
their being dependent upon something else, by virtue of
a certain relation, as being in existence at the same time,
or having respect to some other thing, as in the case of
correlatives, such as father and son, master and servant,
double and half, the whole and part, and other similar
things, in so far as they are related. Inasmuch, then, as
the being of such things depends upon something else, it
follows that the truth of these things likewise depends
upon something else ; for if the half is unknown, its
double cannot be known ; and so of the rest.

§ 6. If any one, therefore, is desirous of offering any
sort of introduction to part of a work, it behoves him to
furnish some notion of the whole of which it is a part.
Wherefore I, too, being desirous of offering something by
way of introduction to the above-mentioned part of the
whole Comedy, thought it incumbent on me in the lirst
place to say something concerning the work as a whole,
in order that access to the part might be the easier and
the more perfect. There are six points, then, as to which
inquiry must be made at the beginning of every didactic

" work ; namely, the subject, the author, the form, the aim,
the title of the book, and the branch of philosophy to
which it belongs. Now of these six points there are three
in respect of which the part which I have had in mind to

iJU i '<\A f < ' sa^

'Stt

EPISTOLA X 199

address to you differs from the whole work ; narnely, the
subject, the form, ancl the title ; whereas in respect of the
others there is no difference, as is obvious to any one who
considers the matter. Consequently, in an examination
of the whole, these three points must be made the subject
of a separate inquiry ; which being done, the way will be
sufficiently clear for the introduction to the part. Later
we will examine the other three points, not only with
reference to the whole work, but also with reference to
the particular part which is offered to you. \

§ 7. For the elucidation, therefore, of what we have to \
(say, it must ba understood that the meaning of this work
fis not of one kind only ; rather the work may be described
as ' polysemous *, that is, having several meanings ; for
the first meaning is that which is conveyed by the letter,
and the next is that which is conveyed by what the letter
signjjie&-; the former of which is called literal, while
the latter is called allegorical, or mystical. And for the
better illustration of this method of exposition we may
apply it to the following verses : ' When Israel went out
of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange
language ; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his a J
dominion \ For if we consider the letter alone, the thing
signified to us is the going out of the children of Israel
from Egypt in the time of Moses ; if the^ allegory, our
redemption through Christ is signified ; if the moral
sense, the conversioh~~6TThe soul from the sorrow and
misery of sin to a state of grace is signified ; if the
anagogical, the passing of the sanctified soul from the
bondage of the corruption of this world to the liberty
of everlasting glory is signified. And although these
mystical meanyigs are called by various names, they mayy
one and all in a general sense be termed 'allegoricaif
inasmuch as they ave different (diversfy from tfre~ "litsrsthoi?
historical ;/for the word ' allegory ' is so called from the
Greek alleon, which in Latin is alienum (strange) or j
diversum (different).

§ 8. This being understood, it is clear that the subject,
with regard to which the alternative meanings are brought

a^K j**?*

200 LETTERS OF DANTE

into play, must be twofold. And therefore the subject of
this work must be considered in the first place from the
point of view of the literal meaning, and next from that
of the allegorical interpretation. The subject, then, of the
whole work, taken in the literal sense only, is the state of
souls after death, pure and simple. For on and about
that the.argument of the whole work turns. If, however,
the work be regarded from the allegorical point of view,
the subject is man according as by his merits or demerits
in the exercise of his free will he is deserving of reward
or punishment by justice.

§ 9. And the form is twofold — the form of the treatise,
and the form of the treatment. The form of the treatise.
is threefold, according to the threefold division. The first
division is that whereby the whole work is divided into
three cantiche ; the second, whereby each cantica is
divided into cantos : and the third, whereby each canto is
divided into rhymed lines. The form or manner of treat-
ment is-poetic, fictive. descriptive, digressive, and figura-
tive ; and further, it is definitive, analyticaj, probative,
refutative, and exemplificative,

§ 10. The title of the book is l Here begins the Cowiedy
of Dante AligKieri, a Florentine by birth, jiot by disposi-
tion \ For the understanding of which it must be noted
that ' comedy ' is so called from comos, a yillage, and oda,
a song ; whence comedy is as it were a ' rustic song '.
Now comedy is a certain kind of poetical narration which
differs from all others. It differs, then, from tragedy in
its subject-matter, in that tragedy at the beginning is
admirable and placid, but at the end or issue is foul and
horrible. And tragedy is so called from tragos, a goat,
and oda ; as it were a ' goat-song ', thatis to say fojUiike.
a goat, as appears from the tragedies of Seneca. Whereas
comedy begins with sundry adverse conditions, but ends
happily, as appears from the comedies of Terence. And
for this reason it is the custom of some writers in their
salutation to say by way of greeting : ' a tragic beginning
and a comic ending to you ! ' Tragedy and comedy differ
likewise in their style of language ; for that of tragedy is

EPISTOLA X 201

high-flown and sublime, while that of comedy is unstudied
and lowly. And this is implied by Horace in the Art of
Poetry, where he grants that the comedian may on
occasion use.the language of tragedy, and vice versa;

Yet sometimes comedy her voice will raise,
And angry Chremes scold with swelling phrase ;
And prosy periods oft our ears assail
When Telephus and Peleus tell their tragic tale.

,And from this it is clear that the present work is to be
described as a comedy. For if we consider the subject-
matter, at the beginning it is horrible and foul, as being
Hell ; but at the close it is happy, desirable, and pleasing,
as bei ng Paradise. As regards the style of language,
the style is unstudied and lowly, as being in the vulgar . pj
tongue, in which even women-folk hold their talk. And
hence it is evident why the work is called a comedy.
And there are other kinds of poetical narration, such as
the pastoral poem, the elegy, the satire, and the votive
song, as may also be gathered from Horace in the Art of
Poetry ; but of these we need say nothing at present.

§ 11. It can now be shown in what manner the subject
of the part offered to you is to be determined. For if the -|
subject of the whole work taken in the literal sense is L~
the state of souls after death, pure and simple, without
limitation ; it is evident that in this part the same state
is the subject, but with a limitation, namely the state of
blessed souls after death. And if the subject of the whole
work from the allegorical point of view is man according
as by his merits or demerits in the exercise of his free will
he is deserving of reward or punishment by justice, it is
evident that in this part this subject has a limitation, and
that it is man according as by his merits he is deserving .
of reward by justice.

§ 12. In like manner the form of the part is determined
by that of the whole work. For if the form of the treatise
as a whole is threefold, in this part it is twofold only, the
division being that of the cantica and of the cantos. The
first division (into cantiche) cannot be applicable to the

ion, iL
of thef
;ate oA

LETTERS OF DANTE

form of the part, since the cantica is itself a part under
the first division.

§ 13. The title of the book also is clear. For the title
of the whole book is ' Here begins the Comedyl, &c, as
above ; but the title of thejDiartjs ' Here begins thejhird
cantica of the Comedy of Dante, which is called Paradisc'.

§ 14. These three points, in which the part differs from
the whole, having been examined, we may now turn our
attention to the other three, in respect of which there is
no difference between the part and the whole. The
author, then, of the whole and of the part is the pejrson
mentioned above, who is seen to be such throughout.

§ 15. The aim of the whole and of the part might be
manifold ; as, for instance, immediate and re.mote. But
leaving aside any minute examination of this question,
l may be stated briefly that the aim of the whole and
part 'is to remove those living in this life from a state
misery, and to bring them to a state of happiness.

§ 16. The brarich of philosophy to which the work is
subject, in the whole as in the part, is that of morals or
ethics ; inasmuch as the whole as well as the part was
conceived, not for speculation, but with a practical object.
For if in certain parts or passages the treatment is after
the manner of speculative philosophy, that is not for the
sake of speculation, but for a practical purpose ; since, as^
the Philosopher says in the second book of the Metapliysks :
1 practical men occasionally speculate on things in their
particular and temporal relations V

§ 17. Having therefore premised these matters, wemay
now apply ourselves to the exposition of the literal
meaning, by way of sample ; as to which it must first bel
understood that the exppsition of the letter is in effect butT
a demonstration of the form.of the work. The part h^
question then, that is, this third cantica which is called
Paradise, falls by its main division into two parts, namely
v the prologue, and the executive part ; which second part
begins :

Surge ai mortali per diverse foci.

m-
1 See note on this passage, p. 179, n. 3.

EPISTOLA Xye^

§ 18. As regards the first part, it should be noted that
although in common parlance it might be termed an
exordiunij yet, properly speaking, it can only be termed
a prologue ; as the Philosopher seems to indicate in the
third book of his Bhetoric, where he says that ' the proem
in a rhetorical oratioh answers to the prologue in poetry,
and to the prelude in flute-playing \ It must further be
observed that this preamble, which may ordinarily be v
termed an exordium, is one thing in* the hands of a poet,
and another in those of an orator/For orators are wont
to give a forecast of what they are about to^say, in order
to gain the attention of their hearers.y^ow poets not
only do this, but in addition they make use of some sort
o { invocation afterward s. And this is fitting in their case,
for they hava ne^d of invoc ation in a l arge, ni^snrft, infls- p

"TOl Ty , tto r hwft uto » m}i Wtirtf^m«™ r nftin r for v *

somethmg beyond the ordmary range of human powers^ w-|"
somethiny almosTTin the nature of a divine ff ifb/ There-
fore the present prologue is divided into two parts : in the
first is given a forecast of what is to follow ; in the second \
is an invocation to Apollo ; which second part begins :

buono Apollo, alFultimo lavoro, &c.

§ 19. With reference to the first part it must be ob-
served that to make a good ex ordium three things are
requisite, as ^ull v savs in his \Nevo Bhetoric^ that the
hearer, namely, snould be^rendered favourably disposed,0
attenthte, and willing to^iearn ; and this is especially
needful in the case of a subject which is out of the
common, as Tully himself remarks. Inasmuch, then, as
the subject dealt with in the present work is out of the
common, it is the aim of the first part of the exordium
or prologue to bring about the above-mentioned three
results with' regard to this out-of-the-way subject. For
the author declares that he will relate such things as he
who beheld them in the first heaven was able to retain.
In ^ whicfr stateme nt all those three thiijgs are co mprised;
f or the profitableness of what L e. is a.bmit. tn i^ialdJbfigets
a favourable^disposition in the hearer ; its being out of

t

4

204 LETTERS OF DANTE

the cjmimon engages his attentjon ; a nd its being wi thjp.

the range oT possibiIity_renderj5 him.JHdlling---tQ leafn.

Its profitableness he gives to be understood when he

says that he shall tell of that which above all things

excites the longing of mankind, namely the'joys of

Paradise ; its uncommon nature is indicated when he

^promises to treat of such exalted and sublime matters as

the conditions of the celestial kingdom ; its being within

*the range of .possibility is demonstrated when he says that

he will tell otf those things which he was able to retain in

his mind — for if he was able, so will others be also. All

this is indicated in the passage where he declares that he

had been in the first heaven, and that he purposes to

relate concerning the celestial kingdom whatsoever he

i $ XrXF^ aD ^ e t° storeup , like a t reasure, in hi s mind. Having

f \i<S*^bhus noted the jexcellence and perfection^ of the first part

L$**-£ of the prologue, we may now proceed to the literal ex-

?^ g aL position.

;V<* # > § 20. He says, then, that 'the glory of the First Mover',
ricJt which is God, 'shines forth in every part of the universe',
rj^ but in such wise that it shines ' in one part more and in
^*» another less \ That it shines in every part both reason
and authority declare. Eeason thus : Everything which
exists has its being either from itself, or from some other
thing. But it is plain that self-existence can be the
attribute of one being only, namely the First or Begin-
ning, which is God^ since to have being does not argue
necessary self-existence, and necessary self-existence apper-
tains to one being only, namely the First or Beginning,
which is the cause of all things ; therefore everything
which exists, except that One itself, has its being from
some other thing. If, then, we take, not any thing
whatsoever, but that thing which is the most remote in
the universe, it is manifest that this has its being from
, . something ; and that from which it derives either has its
being from itself, or from something else. If from itself,
then it is primal ; if from something else, then that again
must either be self-existent, or derive from something
else. But in this way we should go on to infinity in the

EPISTOLA X 205

chain of effective causes, as is shown in the second book
of the ^ta^jmsics. So we must come to a primal exis-
tence, which is "God. Hence, mediately or immediately,
everything that exists has its being from Him, because,
inasmuch as 1 the second cause has its effect 2 from the first,
its influence on what it acts upon 3 is like that of a body
which receives and refiects a ray ; since the first cause is
the more effective cause. And this is stated in the book
On Causes, namely, that 'every primary cause has influence
in a greater degree on what it acts upon 3 than any second
cause '. So much with regard to being. ,

§ 21. With regard to essence I argue in this wise :
Every essence, except the first, is caused ; otherwise there
would be more than one necessarily self-existent being,
which is impossible. For what is caused is the effect
either of nature or of intellect ; and what is of nature is,
consequently, caused by intellect, inasmuch as nature is
the work of intelligence. Everything, then, which is
caused is the effect, mediately or immediately, of some
intellect. Since, then, virtue follows the essence whose
virtue it is, if the essence is of intellect, the virtue is
wholly and solely of the intellectual essence whose effect
it is. And so, just as we had to go back to a first cause
in the case of being, so now we must do so in the case of
essence and of virtue. Whence it is evident that every
essence and every virtue proceeds from a primal one ; and
that the lower intelligences have their effect 4 as it were
from a radiating body, and, after the fashion of mirrors,
reflect the rays of the higher to the one below them.
Which matter appears to be discussed clearly enough by
Dionysius in his work On the Celestial Hierarcliy. And
therefore it is stated in the book On Causes that ' every
intelligence is full of forms '. Keason, then, as we have
seen, demonstrates that the divine light, that is to say the
divine goodness, wisdom, and virtue, shines in every part.

1 Ex eo quod.

2 Recipit, here used absolutely, as in § 21, 1. 402.

3 Causatum.

4 Recipiant, used absolutely, as in § 20, 1. 376.

%

206 LETTERS OF DANTE

§ 22. Authority likewise declares the same, but with
more knowledge. For the Holy Spirit says by the mouth
of Jeremiah : ' Do not I fill heaven and earth ? ' And in
the Psalm : l Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? and
whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up
into heaven, thou art there ; if I descend into hell, thou
v art there also. If I take my wings,' &c. And Wisdom
says: 'The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole
world '. And Ecclesiasticus, in the forty-second chapter :
' His work is full of the glory of the Lord '. To which
also the writings of the pagans bear witness ; for Lucan
says in his ninth book:

Jupiter is whatever thou seest, wherever thou goest.

§ 23. He says well, then, when he says that the divine
ray, or divine glory, ' penetrates and shines through the
universe ' ; penetrates, as to essence ; shines forth, as to
being. And what he adds as to * more and less ' is mani-
festly true, since we see that one essence exist s in a. mnm
excel lent degree, and another in_ajess ; as is ciearly the
< case with regard to the heaven and the ejements, the
former being incorruptible, while the latter are corrup-
tible.

§ 24. And having prem ised this truth, he next goes on
to indic a te Pfr radise by a j S c^Hnfoftnjffii^ and says that
he was~in that iieaven which receives the glory of God, or
his light, in most bountiful measure. As to which it
must be understood that that heaven is the highest heaven,
which contains all the bodies of the universe, and is con-
tained by none, within which all bodies move (itself re-
maining everlastingly at rest), and which receives virtue
froni no corporeal substance. And it is called thdQEmgJk-
reari^ vhich is as much as to say, the heaven glowing with
nreor heat ; not that there is material fire or heat therein,
• but spiritualj which is holy love, or charity.

§ 25. Now that this heaven receives more of the divine
light than any other can be proved by two things.
Firstly, by its containing all things, and being contained
by none ; secondly, by its state of everlasting rest or

i*

coY^o*^ ■+ Ve^b

EPISTOLA X 207

peace. As to the first the proof is as follows : The con-
taining body stands in the same relation to the content in
natural position as the formative does to the formable, as ^ . i
we are told in the fourth book of the Physics. But in the "
natural position of the whole universe the first heaven is
the heaven which contains all things ; consequently it is
related to all things as the formative to the formable,
which is to be in the relation of cause to effect. And since
every causative force is in the hature of a ray emanating
from the first cause, which is God, it is manifest that that
hea yen which is in th e highest .de^re^cjausaJiyejre^e^yes ((^l c
most oi" frhe divine light .~

§ 26. As to the second the proof is this : Everything
which has motion moves because of something which it ,
has not, and which is the terminus of its motion. The
heaven of the moon, for instance, moves because of some
part of itself which has not attained the station towards
which it is moving ; and because no part whatsoever of it
has attained any terminus whatsoever (as indeed it never
cah), it moves to another station, and thus is always in
motion, and is never at rest, which is what it desires.
And what I say of the heaven of the moon applies to all ,
the other heavens, except the first. P.vQyything, frnfTli i **• '

^hlffh h ac 1 rT**™" i g i" *t\mt> rogpor»f ^gfopHv^ fl,nd h^ff ^\'y«

not its whole bejj ng'i ^rtmplpfp That heaven, therefore, co*~\
which is subject to no movement, in itself and in every jj . P&
part whatsoever of itself has whatever it is capable of rwtfvM
having in perfect measure, so that it has no need ofojc*r*<
motion for its perfection. And since every perfection is ^jj^
a ray of the Primal One, inasmuch as He is perfection in ^
the highest degree, it is manifest that the first heaven
receives more than any other of the light of the Primal
One, which is God. This reasoning, however, has the
appearance of an argument based on the denial of the
antecedent, in that it is not a direct proof x and according
to syllogistic form. But if we consider its content 2 it is
a good proof, because it deals with a thing eternal, and
assumes it to be capable.of being eternally defective ; so

1 Simpliciter. y 2 Materiam.

LETTERS OF DANTE

that, if God did not give that heaven motion, it is evident
that He did not give it material in any respect defective.
And on this supposition the argument holds good by
reason of the content ; and this form of argument is much
the same as though we should reason : ' if he is nian, he
is able to laugh ' ; for in every convertible proposition
a like reasoning holds good by virtue of the content.
Hence it is clear that when the author says 'in that
t heaven which receives more of the light of God ', he
intends by a circumlocuti.Qn to indicate Paradise, or the
heaven of the Empyrean. 1

§ 27. And in agreement with the foregoing is what the a •
Philosopher says in the first book On Heaven t namely ■*
that c a heaven has so much the more honourable material
than those below it as it is the further removed from
terrestrial things '. In addition to which might be adduced
" what the Apostle says to the Ephesians of Christ : ' Who
ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all
things '. This is the heaven of the delights of the Lord ;
of which delights it is said by Ezekiel against Lucifer :
' Thou, the seal of similitude, 2 full of wisdom, beautiful in
perfection, 3 wast in the delights of the Paradise of God'. 4

§ 28. And after he has said that he was in that place of
Paradise which he describes by circumlocution, he goes
on to say that he saw certain things which he who deseends
therefrom is powerless to relate. And he gives the
reason, saying that 'the intellect plunges itself to such
depth ' in its very longing, which is for God, ' that the
memory cannot follow '. For the understanding of which
it must be noted that the human intellect in^this life, by
reason of its connaturality and affinity to the separate
intellectual substance, when in exaltation, reaches such
a height of exaltation that after its return to itself

1 For help in rendering some of the technical passages in this
and other sections I am indebted to my friend the late Dr. C. L.
Shadwell, Provost of Oriel.

2 A. V. ' Thou sealest up the sum \

3 Vulg. 'perfectus decore' ; A.V. 'perfect in beauty\

4 A. V. ' Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God \

I.J*

EPISTOLA X

m ^mory fails 7 since it has transcended t he range o_f hunian
faculty. And this is conveyed to us by the Apostle
where he says, addressing the Corinthians : ' I know
a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot
tell ; God knoweth) how that he was caught up to the Lc*xc-r,
third heaven, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not
lawful for a man to utter '. Behold, after the intellect
had passed beyond the bounds of human faculty in its
exaltation, it could not recall what took place outside of
its range. This again is conveyed to us in Matthew, where
we read that the three disciples fell on their faces, and
record nothing thereafter, as though memory had failed
them. And in Ezekiel it is written : * And when I saw
it, I fell upon my face '. And should these not satisfy the
cavillers, let them read Eichard of St. Victor in his book
On Contemplation ; let them read Bernard in his book On
Consideration ; let them read Augustine in his book On tlxe
Capacity oftheSoul; and they will cease from their cavilling.
But if on account of the s infulness of the speaker ,they
should cry out against hisdaim to have reached such a
height of exaltation, let them read Daniel, where they will
find that even Nebuchadnezzarby divine permission beheld
certain things as a warning to sinners, and straightway
forgot them. For He * who maketh his sun to shine on the
good and on the evil, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust', sometimes in compassion for their conversion,
sometimes in wrath for their chastisement, in greater or
lesser measure, according as He wills, manifests his glory
to evil-doers, be they liever so evil.

§ 29. He saw, then, as he says, certain things ' which
he who returns has neither knowledge hor power to
relate'. Now it must be carefully noted that he says
' has neither knowledge nor power ' — knowledge he has
not, because he has forgotten ; power he has not, because
even if he remembers, and retains it thereafter, neverthe-
less speech fails him. For we perceive many things by
the intellect for which language has no terms— a fact
which Elatainjdic^tes plainly enough in his books by his
employment of jnetaphors ; for he perceived many things

&'

r

210 LETTERS OF DANTE

by the light of the intellect which his everyday language
was inadequate to express.

§ 30. Afterwards the author says that he will relate
concerning the celestiaT kingdom such things as he was
able to retain ; and he says that this is the subject of his
work ; the nature and extent of which things will be
shown in the executive part. -

§ 31. Then when he says : ' buono Apollo ', &c, he
makes his invocation. And this part is divided into two
parts — in the first, he invokes the deity and makes
a petition ; in the second, he inclines Apollo to the
granting of his petition by the promise of a certain
recompense ; which second part begins : ' divina virtti \
The first part again is divided into two parts — in the first,
he prays for divine aid ; in the second, he adverts to the
necessity for his petition, whereby he justifies it ; and this
part begins :

Infino a qui 1'un giogo di Parnaso, &c.

§ 32. This is the general meaning of the second part of
the prol flgue ; the particular meaning I shall not expound
on the present occasion ; for anxiety as to my domestic
i affairs l presses so heavily upon me that I must perforce
(j abandon this and other tasks of public utility. I trust,
however, that your Magnificence may afford me the
opportunity to continue this useful exposition at some
other time.

§ 33. With regard to the executive part of the work,
which was divided after the same manner as the prologue
taken as a whole, ^L-shall ^eay nothing either as to its
divisions or its interpretatifcn at present ; save only that
the process of the narrative will be by ascent from heaven
to heaven, and that an account will be given of the blessed
spirits who are met with in each sphere ; and that their
true blessedness consists in the apprehension of Him who
is the beginning of truth, as appears from what John

1 I follow Biagi here in taking the reference to be not to
' straitened circumstances ', but to the pressure of family affairs ;
see Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xvi. 29.

APPENDIX A 211

says : ' This is life eternal, to know thee the true God ',
&c. ; and from what Boetius says in his third book On
Cpnsolation : ' To behold thee is the end '. Hence it is
that, in order to reveal the glory of the blessedness of
those spirits, many things which have great profit and
delight will be asked of them, as of those who behold the
fullness of truth. And since, when the Beginning or
First, which is God, has been reached, there is nought to
be sought for beyond, inasmuch as He is Alpha and
Omega, that is, the Beginning and the End, as the Vision
of John tells us, the work ends in God Himself, who is
blessed for evermore, world without end.

APPENDIX A

Lettera di Dante Alighieri Poeta Fiorentino a M. Guido da
Polenta, Signor di Bauenna x

Al Magnifico M. Guido da Polenta

SlGNOR DI EAVENNA.

Ogni altra cosa m' harei piu tosto creduto uedere, che
quello che corporalmente ho trouato & ueduto delle
qualita di questo eccelso Dominio. Minuit presentia
famam : accioche io mi uaglia di quel passo di Vergilio.
Io m' haueua fra me medesimo imaginato di douere trouar
qui quei nobili & magnanimi Catoni, & quei rigidi censori
de deprauati costumi, in somma tutto quello ch' essi con
habito pomposissimo simulando, uogliono dar credere alla
Italia misera & afflitta, di rappresentare in se stessi: &
forse che non si fanno chiamare Reru dominos, gentemq;
togatam. Misera ueramente & mal condotta plebe ; da
che tanto insolentemente oppressa, tanto uilmente signo-
reggiata, & tanto crudelmete uessata sei da questi huo-
mini nuoui destruttori delle leggi antiche, et auttori

1 For translation of this letter, see Introduction, pp. xxxiii ff.

p2

212 LETTERS OF DANTE

<T ingiustissime corruttele. Ma che ui diro io, Signore,
della ottusa & bestiale ignoranza di cosi graui & uenera-
bili padri? Io per non defraudare cosi la grandezza
uostra, come F auttorita mia, giugnendo alla preseza di
si canuto & maturo collegio, uolsi fare 1'ufficio mio &
1'ambasciata uostra in quella lingua, la quale insieme
con 1'imperio della bella Ausonia e tuttauia andata &
adera sSpre declinando : credendo forse ritrouarla in questo
estremo angulo sedere in maesta sua, per andarsi poi
diuulgando insieme con lo stato loro per tutta Europa
almeno : ma oime che non altramente giunsi nuouo e
incognito pellegrino, che se teste fossi giunto dall' es-
trema & occidentale Thile ; anzi poteua io assai meglio
qui ritrouare interprete allo straniero idioma, s' io fossi
uenuto da i fauolosi Antipodi, che non fui ascoltato con
la facondia Komana in bocca: perche non si tosto pro-
nuntiai parte dell' essordio, ch' io m' haueua fatto a
rallegrarmi in nome uostro della nouella elettione di
questo serenissimo Doge ; Lux orta est iusto & rectis
corde letitia ; che mi fu mandato a dire o ch' io cercassi
d' alcuno interprete, o che mutassi fauella. Cosi mezzo
fra stordito & sdegnato, ne so qual piu, cominciai alcune
poche cose a dire in quella lingua, che portai meco dalle
fasce : la quale fu loro poco piu familiare & domestica,
che la latina si fosse. Onde in cambio d'apportar loro
allegrezza & diletto, seminai nel fertilissimo campo del-
1' ignorantia di quegli abondantissimo seme di marauiglia
& di confusione. Et non e da marauigliarsi punto, che
essi il parlare Italiano non intendano : perche da progeni-
tori Dalmati & Greci discesi, in questo gentilissimo
terreno altro recato non hanno, che pessimi & uitupero-
sissimi costumi, insieme con il fango d' ogni sfrenata
lasciuia. Perche m'e paruto darui questo breue auiso
della legatione che per uostra parte ho essequita: pre-
gandoui che quantunque ogni autorita di comandarmi
habbiate, a simili imprese piu non ui piaccia mandarmi :
delle quali ne uoi riputatione, ne io per alcun tempo
consolatione alcuna spero : Fermerommi qui pochi giorni,
per pascer gli occhi corporali naturalmente ingordi della

APPENDIX B 213

nouita & uaghezza di questo sito : & poi mi trasferiro al
dolcissimo porto dell' otio mio, tanto benignamente ab-
bracciato dalla real cortesia uostra.

Di Vinegia alli xxx di Marzo m ccc xiiii.

I/humil seruo uostro Dante Alighieri Fiorentino.

APPENDIX B

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
From Dante's Priorate (1300) to his death (1321).

1300. June 15-Aug. 15. Dante's Priorate.

June 24. Banishment of the leaders of the

Bianchi and Neri factions from Florence.
Aug. Death of Guido Cavalcanti.

1301. May. The Neri (Cino da Pistoja presumably

amongthem) expelled from Pistoja. (Villani,

viii. 45.)
Oct. The Bianchi of Florence send an embassy

to Kome to Boniface VIII (Dino Compagni,ii. 4),

of which Dante was a member. (Dino, ii. 25 ;

Ottimo Comento, ii. 577.)
Nov. 1. Charles of Valois, sent by Boniface VIII

as pacificator, enters Florence and treacherously

espouses the cause of the Neri, who attack and

pillage the houses of the Bianchi. (Vill. viii.

49.)
Nov. 9. Cante de' Gabrielli of Gubbio elected

Podesta of Florence. (Dino, ii. 19.) x

1302. Jan. 27. First sentence (of heavy fine and banish-

ment for two years) issued by Cante de' Gabrielli
against Dante (in his absence) and three others
for malversation in office. 2

1 See Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica, vol. ii, p. 197,
n. 17.

2 See Del Lungo, DelV Esilio di Dante, pp. 97-103.

214 LETTERS OF DANTE

1302. March 10. Second sentence (of death by burning)

issued by Cante de' Gabrielli against Dante and

fourteen others for contumacy. 1

Final expulsion of the Bianchi from Florence.

(Vill. viii. 49 ; Dino, ii. 23.)
April. Charles of Valois departs from Florence,

leaving the Neri in possession. (Vill. viii. 49 ;

Dino, ii. 25.) 2
May. The Florentine Neri and Luechese, under

Moroello Malaspina, make an expedition against

Pistoja and capture Serravalle. (Vill. viii. 52.)
June 8. Convention arranged between the Ubal-

dini, and the Ghibellines and Florentine Bian-

chi, at a meeting at San Godenzo in the Val

di Sieve, at which Dante was present among

the Florentine exiles. 3
June-Sept. Warfare in the Mugello between the

exiled Florentines and their allies, and the Neri

of Florence. (Vill. viii. 53 ; Dino, ii. 29.)

1303. March. Renewed warfare in the Mugello. (Vill.

viii. 60; Dino, ii. 30.)
Oct. 11. Death of Pope Boniface VIII.
Oct. 22. Election of Pope Benedict XI.

1304. Jan. 31. Cardinal Niccolo da Prato appointed

pacificator in Tuscany by Benedict XI. (Vill.

viii. 69 ; Dino iii. 1.)
March 10. Cardinal Niccolo arrives in Florence

as pacificator. (Vill. viii. 69 ; Dino, iii. 4.)
JEpistola i. (To the Cardinal Niccolo), written

probably between March 1 and June 4. 4
June 4. Cardinal Niccolo, having failed in his

mission, departs from Florence, leaving the city

under an interdict. (Vill. viii. 69 ; Dino, iii. 7.) 5

1 See Del Lungo, DelV Esilio di Dante, pp. 104-6 ; and Dino Com-
pagni, ii. 25.

2 According to some accounts Charles left Florence in the previous
February (see Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica, vol. ii,
p. 212, n. 1).

3 See Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica, vol. ii, pp. 569-70.
* See above, pp. 3-4. 5 Dino gives the date as June 9.

APPENDIX B 215

1304. Epistola ii. (To the Counts Oberto and Guido
da Bomena), probably written about this time. 1

July 7. Death of Pope Benedict XI.

July 20. Abortive attempt from Lastra of the
Florentine exiles (from which Dante, who by
now had probably dissociated himself from his
fellow exiles, appears to have held aloof) to
eifect their return to Florence by force of arms.
(Vill. viii. 72 ; Dino, iii. 10.)

The De Vulgari Eloquentia probably written
in this year. 2

1305. June 5. Election of Pope Clement V.

Dec. Kestoration of the Colonna Cardinals.^
c. 1305-6. Epistola iii (iv). (To Cino da Pistoja), prob-
ably written about this time. 4

1306. April. The exiled Neri (Cino da Pistoja pre-

sumably among them) return to Pistoja. (Vill.
viii. 82; Dino, iii. 15.)
Oct. 6. Dante at Sarzana in Lunigiana acts as
procurator for the Malaspini in their dispute
with the Bishop of Luni. 5

1307. July 7. Death of Edward I of England ; accession

of his son, Edward II.

1308. May 1. Death of the Emperor Albert I.
Oct. 6. Death of Corso Donati. 6

Nov. The Convivio probably finished (so far as

completed) by this date. 7
Nov. 27. Election of Henry of Luxemburg

(Henry VII) as Emperor. (Vill. viii. 101 ;

Dino, iii. 23.)

1 See above, pp. 12-13.

2 See Ferrers Howell, in Temple Classics Translation of Latin
Works of Dante, p. 119 ; and Wicksteed, in Translation of Convivio,
p. 423.

3 See above, p. 140, n. 4 See above, pp. 20-1.

5 See Report XI (1892) of the Cambridge (U.S.A.) Dante Society,
pp. 15-24.

6 See Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica, vol. ii, p. 338,
n. 10.

7 See Wicksteed, in Translation of Convivio, pp. 420-2.

216 LETTERS OF DANTE

c. 1308-9. Epistola iv (iii). (To the Marquis Moroello
Malaspina), probably written about this time. 1

1309. Jan. 6. Henry VII crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. 2

(Vill. viii. 102.)
May 6. Death of Charles II, King of Naples ;

accession of his son Robert.
June 2. Henry VII sends an embassy to Clement V

at Avignon.*
June. Coronation of King Robert at Avignon. 4
July 26. Clement V's first encyclical (' Divinae

Sapientiae '), recognizing and confirming the

election of Henry VII. 5
August. Henry's expedition into Italy decided

upon at the Diet of Spires. 6

1310. May 10. Henry sends ambassadors to the chief

cities of Italy to announce his coming to receive
the Imperial crown at Rome. 7

July 3. Henry's ambassador arrives in Florence ;
the Florentines return an insolent reply to the
Emperor, 8 and in defiance of his bidding con-
tinue (July-Sept.) their operations against
Arezzo. (Vill. viii. 119-20; Dino, iii. 35.)

Aug. The Florentines make alliances with King
Robert of Naples and the Guelf cities of Tuscany
and Lombardy in order to oppose the Emperor's
advance into Italy. (Vill. ix. 7.)

1 See above, pp. 31-2.

2 The coronation ceremony of the Emperor was threefold —
firstly, at Aix, with a silver crown, as King of Germany ; secondly,
at Monza (in Henry's case at Milan), with an iron crown, as King
of Italy (or of the Eomans) ; thirdly, at Eome, with a crown of
gold, as Emperor. (See Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica,
vol. ii, p. 360, nn. 6, 8; p. 346, n. 1.)

3 See F. Bonaini, Acta Henrici VII, Romanorum Imperatoris, i. 1-3.

4 See Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica, vol. ii, p. 355,
n. 25.

5 See Bonaini, op. cit., pp. 3-5.

6 See Bohmer, Regesta Imperii, p. 267.

7 See Bohmer, op. cit, pp. 267, 275.

8 Flavio Biondo records that Dante, who was at this time at
Forli, wrote an account of this incident to Can Grande — see above,

APPENDIX B 217

1310. Sept. 1. Clement V's second encyclical (' Exultet

in gloria'), calling upon all good Christians,

and the Italians in particular, to receive and

honour Henry as Emperor. 1
Sept. 30. King Kobert arrives in Florence. (Vill.

ix. 8.)

Epistola v. (To the Princes and Peoples of

Italy), written about this time. 2
Oct. 10. The Emperor arrives at Lausanne, where

he is welcomed by ambassadors from Italian

cities, with the exception of Florence. (Vill.

ix. 7.) 3
Oct. The Emperor crosses the Alps by the Mt.

Cenis, reaching Susa on Oct. 24, and Turin on

Oct. 30. 4
Oct. 24. King Kobert leaves Florence. (Vill.

ix. 8.)
Nov. 10-Dec. 12. The Emperor at Asti, where

he receives Guelf and Ghibelline exiles, and

nominates Imperial Vicars in various cities of

Italy. 6 (Vill. ix. 9.)
Nov. 30. The Florentines decide to fortify their

city against the coming of the Emperor. (Vill.

ix. 10.) 6
Dec. 23. The Emperor enters Milan. (Vill.

ix. 9.) 7

1311. Jan. 6. The Emperor is crowned with the iron

crown at Milan 8 (Vill. ix. 9 ; Dino, iii. 26) ;
Dante probably present at the ceremony . (Epist.
vii. 38-46.)
Feb. 20. Cremona, incited by Florence, rebels
against the Emperor. (Vill. ix. 11 ; Dino, iii.
28.)

1 See Bonaini, op. cit., pp. 42-5. 2 See above, pp. 44-5.

3 Villani antedates Henry's arrival at Lausanne— see Zingarelli,
Dante, p. 257.

4 Zingarelli, op. cit., p. 258. 5 Zingarelli, loc. cit.

6 Cf. Epist. vi. 76-80.

7 See Del Lungo, JDino Compagni e la sua Cronica, vol. ii, p. 359, n. 1.

8 See above, p. 216, n. 2.

218 LETTERS OF DANTE

1311. March. Brescia rebels against the Emperor. (Vill.

ix. 11.)
March 31. Epistola vi. (To the Florentines.)
Aprill7. Epistola vii. (TotheEmperorHenryVII.)
April 19. The Emperor leaves Milan in order to

reduce Cremona and the other rebellious cities

of Lombardy. 1
April-May. The Emperor besieges and takes

Cremona. (ViU. ix. 14-15 ; Dino, iii. 28.)
Can Grande della Scala takes possession of

Vicenza on behalf of the Emperor. (Vill. ix.

U.)

Epistolae vii*, vii**. (To the Empress Mar-

garet), written about this time. 2
April-June. The Florentines recall their Guelf

exiles, and enroll the Guelfs of Tuscany in a

league against the Emperor. (Vill. ix. 16, 17.)
May 18. Epistola vii***. (To the Empress Mar-

garet.) 8
May 19. The Emperor lays siege to Brescia.

(Vill. ix. 15, 20 ; Dino, iii. 29.) *
Sept. 2. The proclamation, known as the 'Ri-

forma di Messer Baldo d" Aguglione', issued

at Florence, whereby pardon is offered to

certain of the Florentine exiles, while others,

Dante among them, are expressly excepted by

name. 5
Sept. 19. Brescia surrenders to the Emperor.

(Vill. ix. 20 ; Dino, iii. 29.) 6
Sept. 24. The Emperor enters Brescia, the for-

tifications of which he causes to be razed. (Vill.

ix. 20; Dino, iii. 29.) 7

1 See Del Lungo, op. cit., p. 367, n. 32.

2 See above, p. 108. 3 See above, pp. 116-17.

4 For the date, see Del Lungo, op. cit., p. 375, n. 12.

5 See Paget Toynbee, Life of Dante (ed. 1910), pp. 94-5 ; and Del
Lungo, DelV Esilio di Dante, pp. 107 ff.

6 Villani says Sept. 16, but see Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua
Cronica, vol. ii, p. 379, n. 38.

7 For the date, see Del Lungo, op. cit., pp. 379-80, nn. 38, 44.

APPENDIX B 219

1311. Oct. 2. The Emperor leaves Brescia. 1

Can Grande appointed Imperial Vicar in

Verona. (Vill. ix. 20.)

The Florentines and Lucchese fortify their

frontiers against the approach of the Emperor.

(Vill. ix. 21.)

The Emperor sends ambassadors to Florence ;

the Florentines refuse to receive them. 2 (Vill.

ix. 26.)
Oct. 21. The Emperor arrives in Genoa. (Vill.

ix. 24 ; Dino, iii. 30.)
Nov. 20. He cites the Florentines to appear before

him. 8 (Vill. ix. 29.)
Dec. 14. Death of the Empress Margaret at

Genoa. (Vill. ix. 28; Dino, iii. 30.) 4
Dec. 15. King Kobert sends troops to help the

Florentines and Lucchese to oppose theEmperor.

(Vill. ix. 31.)
Dec. The Guelfs of Brescia rebel against the

Emperor, and are expelled by Can Grande della

Scala. (Vill. ix. 32.)

Parma and Reggio, aided by the Florentines

and Tuscan Guelfs, rebel against the Emperor.

(Vill. ix. 32 ; Dino, iii. 31.)
Dec. 24. The Emperor proclaims Florence under

the ban of the Empire. 5
1312. Jan. 10. Cremona rebels against the Emperor and

expeis his Vicar. (Vill. ix. 34.)
Jan. 11. The Emperor's deputy arrives in Pisa,

and begins operations against the Florentines.

(Vill. ix. 35.)
Feb. Can Grande appointed Imperial Vicar in

Vicenza. 6

1 Del Lungo, op. cit, p. 381, n. 1.

2 For an account of their treatment, see Del Lungo, Ba Boni-
fazio VIII acl Arrigo VII, pp. 435-41.

3 Del Lungo, op. cit., p. 441.

4 For the date, see Del Lungo, Bino Compagni, vol. ii, p. 384, n. 26.
fi Del Lungo, Ba Bonifazio VIII ad Arrigo VII, p. 441.

6 See Torraca, Studi Banteschi, p. 255 n.

220 LETTERS OF DANTE

1312. Feb. 15. The Paduans. aided by the Florentines
and Bolognese, rebel against the Emperor and
expel his Vicar. (Vill. ix. 36.)

Feb. 16. The Emperor sails from Genoa for Pisa.
(Vill. ix. 37 ; Dino, iii. 35.)

March 6. He arrives in Pisa, 1 on his way to Rome
to be crowned. (Vill. ix. 37 ; Dino, iii. 35.)

April 16. King Robertfs brother, Prince John,
arrives in Rome and joins forces with the
Orsini, in opposition to the Emperor. (Vill. ix.
39 ; Dino, iii. 36.)

April 23. The Emperor leaves Pisa, and goes by
way of the Maremma to Viterbo, whence he
proceeds to Rome and forces an entrance with
the help of the Colonna (May 7). (Vill. ix. 40.)

May. King Roberfs troops and the Guelfs of
Tuscany assemble in force in Rome to oppose
the coronation of the Emperor. (Vill. ix. 39.)

June 29. St. Peter's being in the hands of King
Roberfs forces, the Emperor is crowned in the
church of St. John Lateran by the Cardinal
Niccolo da Prato, Bishop of Ostia, and two other
Cardinals. (Vill. ix. 43; Dino, iii. 36.) 2

Aug. The Emperor arrives in Tuscany, and pro-
ceeds to Arezzo, where he makes preparations
for the siege of Florence. (Vill. ix. 45.)

Sept. 19. He begins the siege, and remains before
the city till the end of October. The Florentines
receive large reinforcements from the Guelfs of
Tuscany and Romagna, but will not risk an
engagement. (Vill. ix. 47.)

Oct. 31. The Emperor raises the siege, and retires
to San Casciano, where he remains until Jan. 6,
1313. (Vill. ix. 48.)

1 It has been conjectured that Dante was in Pisa with the
Emperor at this time, and that it was on this occasion that
Petrarch as a boy saw Dante for the only time in his life. (See
Del Lungo, Da Bonifazio VIII ad Arrigo VII, p. 430.)

2 Both Villani and Dino give the date as Aug. 1 ; but see Del
Lungo, Dino Compagni, vol. ii, pp. 410-11, n. 15.

APPENDIX B 221

1313. Jan. 7. He removes to Poggibonsi, where he

remains until March 6. (Vill. ix. 48.)
March 9. He returns to Pisa, whence he issues

a proclamation against Florence, depriving the

city of all its dignities and privileges. (Vill.

ix. 49.)
June. The Florentines confer the lordship of

Florence upon King Kobert of Naples for five

years. 1 (Vill. ix. 56.)
Aug. 5. The Emperor leaves Pisa on his way

south to encounter King Kobert (Vill. ix. 51) ;

he encamps on the banks of the Arbia at Monta-

perti, 2 where he falls ill, and from there proceeds

to Buonconvento near Siena. (Vill. ix. 52.)
Aug. 24. Death of the Emperor at Buonconvento ;

his body is conveyed to Pisa for burial. (Vill.

ix. 52, 53.)
Aug. 27. The Florentines address an exultant

letter to their allies announcing the death of

their enemy, ' the savage tyrant, Henry Count

of Luxemburg \ 3

1314. March 30. Alleged letter of Dante from Venice

to Guido da Polenta. 4
April 20. Death of Pope Clement V. (Papal See

vacant until Aug. 1316.)
May-June. Epistola viii. (To the Italian Cardinals),

probably written at this time. 5
July 14. Irruption of the Gascons into the Conclave

at Carpentras. 6
Oct. 20. Election of the Emperor Louis IV.
Nov. Death of Philip IV of France ; accession of

his son, Louis X.

1315. May 19. Proclamation in Florence of a general

1 Del Lungo, Da Bonifazio VIII ad Arrigo VII, p. 452.

2 The scene of the disastrous defeat of the Florentine Guelfs
fifty-three years before (Sept. 4, 1260), to which Dante refers,
Inf. x. 85-6.

3 Del Lungo, Dino Compagni, vol. i, pp. 637-8.

4 See above, pp. 211-13 ; and Introduction, pp. xxxii ff.

5 See above, pp. 124-6. 6 See above, pp. 124-6.

LETTERS OF DANTE

1315. amnesty to the exiles (Dante being implicitly
included), on condition of their paying a fine
and undergoing the 'oblatio ' l in San Giovanni. 2

Epistola ix. (To a Frien d in Florence), written

at this time. 3
Aug. 29. Disastrous defeat of the Florentines

and Tuscan Guelfs by the Ghibellines under

Uguccione della Faggiuola at Montecatini. (Vill.

ix. 71, 72.)
Nov. 6. Fresh sentence (of beheading on the

place of public execution) against Dante and

others (including his sons). 4

Dante the guest of Can Grande at Verona

probably about this tinie. 5

1316. June 2. Lando da Gubbio, chief magistrate of

Florence, proclaims a fresh amnesty to certain of
the exiles, those originally condemned by Cante
de' Gabrielli in 1302 (Dante among them) being
expressly excluded. 6

June 5. Death of Louis X of France ; accession
of his brother, Philip V.

Aug. 7. Election of Pope John XXII.

1317. Sept. 20. The Ghibellines of Lombardy, under

Can Grande, besiege Cremona (Vill. ix. 88) ;
and make an expedition against the Paduans,
taking several of their strong places (Vill.
ix. 89).

Dante about this time becomes the guest of
Guido Novello da Polenta at Kavenna.
Dec. Can Grande appointed Imperial Vicar in
Verona and Vicenza by Frederick of Austria.

1318. Feb. The Paduans make terms with Can Grande,

and undertake to reinstate the Ghibellines in
Padua. (Vill. ix. 89.)

1 See above, p. 154, n. 4.

2 See A. Della Torre, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xii. 149-50,
152. 3 Seeabove, p. 152.

4 See Del Lungo, DelV Esilio di Dante, pp. 148-51.
6 See Moore, Studies in Dante, iii, pp. 360-1.
6 See Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xii. 148.

APPENDIX B 223

1318. April. The Ghibellines of Lombardy, under Can

Grande, take Cremona. (Vill. ix. 91.)
Dec. 16. Can Grande elected Captain-General of
the Ghibelline League in Lombardy. 1

1319. Feb. Giovanni del Virgilio's Carmen ('Pieridum

vox alma ') addressed to Dante about this time. 2
Dante's Ecloga i (' Vidimus in nigris ') in reply
to the above. 3

The Inferno, Purgatorio, and ten cantos of the
Paradiso completed at this date. 4
Aug. Giovanni del Virgilio's Ecloga Resjponsiva
(' Forte sub irriguos '). 5

Can Grande captures the suburbs of Padua.
(Vill. ix. 100.)

Epistola x. (To Can Grande), probably written
about this time. 6

1320. Jan. 20. Dante's dissertation De Aqua et Terra

at Verona.
Aug. 25. Can Grande defeated before Padua,
Uguccione della Faggiuola being killed. (Vill.
ix. 121.)

Dante's Ecloga ii ('Velleribus Colchis'), per-
haps written about this time. 7

1321. (Summer.) Dante's embassy to Venice on behalf

of Guido da Polenta.
Sept. 14. Death of Dante at Ravenna.

1 See Torraca, Siudi Danteschi, p. 255.

2 See Wicksteed and Gardner, Dante and Giovanni del Virgilio,
pp. 122, 218, 235.

3 See Wicksteed and Gardner, op. cit., p. 125.

4 Ecl. i. 48-50, 64 ; see above, p. 163, nn. 5, 6.

5 See Wicksteed and Gardner, op. cit., p. 235.
c See above, p. 163.

7 See Wicksteed and Gardner, op. cit., pp. 127, 236.

APPENDIX C

DANTE AND THE GUBSUS

§ 1. HlSTORY AND NATURE OF THE MeDIAEVAL

Cursus l

The cursus is the name given to the harmonious
arrangement, according to prescribed laws, of the words
at the end of the clause or sentence in prose composition
— 'artificiosa dictionum structura', as it is defined by a
thirteenth-century writer on the subject. 2 The mediaeval
cursus may be described as the lineal descendant of the
classical cursus, with the substitution of accent for
quantity ; that is to say, mediaeval Latin prose, when
written in accordance with the laws of the cursus, was
accentual or rhythmical, instead of being metrical, like
the ' prosa numerosa ' of Cicero.

During the period of transition, which apparently be-
gan in the latter half of the fourth century, and is usually
reckoned to close with Gregory the G-reat (540-604),
before the stress of the accent had altogether obliterated
the recognition of quantity, there prevailed a style which
was characterized by a mixture of the two — cursus mixtus,
as it has been called — some of the clausulae being metri-

1 For this account, which is reprinted in part from the Modern
Language Review (xiii. 420 ff.), I am largely indebted to the paper
on The Cursus in Mediaeval and Vulgar Latin by Professor A. C. Clark
(Oxford, 1910) ; to the second edition of II Cursus nella Storia
Letteraria e nella Liturgia of Angelo De Santi (Rome, 1903) ; and
to chapter iv of R. L. Poole's Lectures on the History of the Papal
Chancery (Cambridge, 1915).

2 Buoncompagno di Firenze — the passage is quoted by Thurot in
his Histoire des Doctrines grammaticales au Moyen Age (in Notices et
Uxtraits des Manuscrits, xxn. ii. 480) : ' Appositio que dicitur esse
artificiosa dictionum structura, ideo a quibusdam cursus vocatur,
quia, cum artificialiter dictiones locantur, currere sonitu delectabili
per aures videntur cum beneplacito auditorum.'

APPENDIX C 225

cal, while others follow the accent without regard to the
quantity. 1 At the end of this period the employment of
rhythmical prose seems to have fallen into abeyance.-

A revival took place in the eleventh century, when the
rhythmical cursus was adopted by the Roman Curia and
was the subject of elaborate rules. 3 'The prose of this
period ', writes Professor Clark, ' was largely epistolary ' ;
in which term are included ' not merely private letters,
but elaborate and courtly compositions sent to ecclesiasti-
cal dignitaries, and diplomatic documents proceeding from
the Papal Chancery. . . . The usual term for such composi-
tions was diciamen, 4 writers were called dictatores, 6 their
art was known as ars dictatoria, and handbooks giving
the rules were styled summa dictaminis.' 6

The employment of the cursus soon spread beyond the
confines of the Papal Chancery, and became general, not
only in epistolary correspondence, but in every form of
Latin prose composition with any pretension to style and
elegance 7 — its use in fact became the distinguishing mark

1 See Clark, op. cit, pp. 10-13.

a See Clark, op. cit, pp. 12-13, where the following statement of
the Benedictines of Solesmes is quoted : • A partir de Saint Gregoire
le Grand le rythme semble s'exiler pour quatre siecles de la prose
litteraire'. Cf. De Santi, op. cit, p. 12: 'Tutti gli autori sono
concordi nell' asserire che dal secolo vn in poi la prosa metrica va
disparendo. A poco a poco la quantita soggiace all 1 impero dell' ac-
cento e piii non conta, finche si perde ogni traccia di un cursus
"comechessia cadenzato.'

8 Clark, op. cit, p. 13.

4 Dante applies this term to a poetical composition in the
De Vulgari Eloquentia (ii. 12, 1. 52).

5 Dante twice uses the word in this sense, viz. in the De Vulgari
Eloquentia (ii. 6, 1. 46), and in the letter to Can Grande {Epist. x,
1. 207).

6 Clark, op. cit., pp. 13-14.

7 This is brought out in an interesting way by Dante in the
sixth chapter of the second book of the De Vulgari Eloquentia, in
which he enumerates four 'degrees of construction ', with instances :
1 Sunt etenim gradus constructionum quamplures ; videlicet in-
sipidus, qui est rudium, ut Petrus amat multum dominam Bertam.
Est pure sapidus, qui est rigidorum scholarium vel magistrorum,
ut Piget me cunctis pietate maiore quicumque in exilio tabescentes, patriam
tantum somniando revisunt. Est et sapidus et venustus, qui est

226 LETTERS OF DANTE

of a cultivated writer — and it continued to flourish until
' with the dawn of the Kenaissance the knowledge of
quantity revived, and the cursus was abandoned as bar-
barous * . . . and the art of numerosa compositio was lost,
only to be recovered gradually during the last few years.' 2
In the mediaeval cursus, which, it must be borne in

quorundam superficie tenus rhetoricam haurientium, ut Laudabilis
discretio marchionis Estensis et sua magnificentia praeparata cunctis illum
facit esse dilectum. Est et sapidus et venustus, etiam et excelsus,
qui est dictatorum illustrium, ut Eiecta maxima parte Jlorum de sinu
tuo, Florentia, nequicquam Trinacriam Toiila secundus adiviV (11. 32-48).
In the last three examples, which are those of a cultivated style,
the normal rules of the cursus are observed, while in the first, 'qui
est rudium ', they are ignored. Thus in the second we have
' (pie)tate maiore ' (planus^,* l (in ex)ilio tabescentes (velox),*
1 (somni)ando revisunt' (planus) ; in the third, ' (marchi)onis
Esiensis ' (planus), ' (magnifi)centia praeparata ' (velox), ' esse
dilectum ' (planus) ; in the last, ' tuo, Florentia' (tardus),* ' (ne)-
quicquam Trinacriam' (tardus), ' (se)cundus adivit' (planus). It
may be noted that the cursus is also observed in the example which
Dante gives, earlier in this same chapter, in the passage in which
he defines the * constructio ' : 'Est enim sciendum, quod con-
structionem vocamus regulatam compaginem dictionum, ut Aristo-
teles philosophatus est tempore AlexandrV (11. 11-14), Hempore
Alexandri ' constituting a velox.

1 Clark, op. cit, p. 21.

2 See N. Valois : Etude sur le Rythme des Bulles Pontiftcales, in
Bibliotheque de VEcole des Chartes, xlii. 267 ; Clark, op. cit., p. 21 ; and
Poole, op. cit, p. 76. Cf. De Santi, op. cit., p. 33 : ' II massimo fiore
del cursus letterario rnedievale si riscontra tra il pontificato d' In-
nocenzo III (1198-1216) e quello di Nicolo IV (1288-1292). [ Le
regole rimangono invariate e nelle lettere pontificie non vi ha
clausola, o intermedia o finale, che non sia regolata col cursus.
Ma sotto Nicolo IV comincia la dccadenza. I notarii apostolici
divengono di mano in mano piu negligenti. . . . Nel secolo xiv il
cursus scompare del tutto nelle nuove Bolle e solo sopravvive nelle
formole copiate dagli Atti piu antichi, ma senza coscienza alcuna
dello stile loro proj>rio. La rinascenza aveva fatto gia rifiorire le
teorie di Cicerone e di Quintiliano, ed i bravi latinisti del cinque-
cento non badarono piii davvero alle regole del cursus, ma a scriver
bene, secondo lo stile dell' Eta dell' oro, e a dare una movenza
armonica al periodo che ritraesse del gusto dei migliori classici,
a cio aiutandosi specialmente del giudizio dell' orecchio formatosi
sopra quelli.'

* For the explanation of these terms, see below, pp. 227-8.

APPENDIX C 227

mind, depends entirely upon accent, not quantity, and in
which there is no elision, the hiatus being tolerated, three
principal types of clausula are recognized, which are known
respectively as planus, tardus, and velox.

Cursus Planus.

The cursus planus in its normal form (pl) consists of
a paroxytone trisyllable (or its equivalent, a monosyllable
and a paroxytone dissyllable) preceded by a paroxytone
dissyllable or polysyllable, the caesura falling after the
second syllable of the clausula ; as, esse | videtur ; vincla |
perfregit ; longum | sermonem ; dare | non vultis ; (obe)-
dire | mandatis.

As in the classical cursus two short syllables might be
substituted for a long in the clausula, 1 so in the mediaeval
cursus it was allowable to substitute two unaccented
syllables for one in the same manner, a licence which
gave rise to what may be termed alternative or secondary
forms. Thus the normal form of theplanus (esse videtur ;
longum sermonem) might be replaced by a secondary
form (pl% such as, esse | videatur; dona | sentiamus ;
(perve)nire | mereamur; the caesura falling after the
second syllable as in the normal form. 2

Another variation of the normal planus was occasionally
admitted, without caesura, in which the whole clausula
was composed of a single word (pl 3 ) ; such as, iudicabatur ;
transgredientes. 3

Yet another form, which by some is classed as a variety
of planus (pl% and by others is placed in a separate
category styled cursus medius,* consists of a paroxytone
dissyllable preceded by a proparoxytone trisyllable (or its
equivalent) or polysyllable, the caesura falling after the

1 Clark, op. cit., p. 7.

2 This secondary form is by some classed as cursus trispondaicus ;
see De Santi, op. cit., p. 25 ; Clark, op. cit., pp. 18, 19.

3 See Parodi, in Bulleitino della Societa Dantesca Italiana, N.S. xix.
251 n.

4 See De Santi, op. cit, p. 26 ; and Clark, op. cit., pp. 18, 19.

Q 2

228 LETTERS OF DANTE

third syllable of the clausula ; as, precibus | nostris ; lit
pius | pater ; (domi)nabitur | mihi. 1

Cursus Tardus.

The normal form of the cursus tardus (t) consists of
a proparoxytone tetrasyllable (or its equivalent), preceded
by a paroxytone dissyllable or polysyllable, the caesura
falling after the second syllable of the clausula, as in the
planus ; as, esse | videbitis ; vincla | perfregerat ; (oper)ari |
iustitiam. The final tetrasyllable may be represented
either by a paroxytone trisyllable followed by a mono-
syllable ; as, nobis | aggressus est ; (sub)ire | necesse est ;
or by a proparoxytone trisyllable preceded by a mono-
syllable ; as, verba | non caperent ; (murmu)rantes | in
invicem.

By the substitution, as in the planus, of two unaccented
syllables for one after the caesura, we get a secondary
form of the tardus (t 2 ), of the type esse | videamini;
(vir)tiitis | operatio. 2

What by some is classed as a variety of the cursus
tardus (t 3 ), and by others is placed in the category of the
cursus medius, 3 has the caesura after the third syllable of
the clausula, which thus consists of a proparoxytone tri-
syllable preceded by a proparoxytone trisyllable or poly-
syllable ; as, iiigiter | postulat ; (per)ciititur | impius.

Cursus Velox.

The cursus velox in its normal form (v) consists of
a paroxytone tetrasyllable (or its equivalent) preceded by
a proparoxytone trisyllable or polysyllable, the caesura
falling after the third syllable of the clausula; as, om-
nia | videantur ; vinculum | fregeramus ; (su)siirrio | blan-
dientem. 4 The final tetrasyllable may be represented

1 See Parodi, Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xix. 251 n., 259.

2 This secondary form of tardus is by some classed as dispondeus
dactylicus ; see De Santi, op. cit, p. 26 ; Clark, op. cit, pp. 18, 19.

3 See De Santi, op. ciL, p. 26 ; Clark, op. cit., pp. 18, 19.

4 The grave accent indicates a minor stress, in conformity with
the observation ' that long words cannot be pronounced without
the help of minor accents' (see Clark, op. cit., p. 10).

APPENDIX C

either by a paroxytone trisyllable preceded by a mono-
syllable ; as, civitas | est Komana ; (vic)toriam | stint
adepti ; or by two dissyllables ; as, nesciens j atque
nolens ; (uten)silia | Dei siimus. >

As in the case of the planus and tardus, by the substi-
tution of two unaccented syllables for one after the
caesura, we get a secondary form of velox (v 2 ), of the type
fl<§tibus | intemeratus ; callide | considerantes.

A further variety of the cursus velox (v% which by
some is designated cursus octosyllabicus, 1 has an additional
syllable at the end, of the type fletibus | supplicantium ;
(amari)tudinem | poenitentiae.

It may be noted in passing that the cursus velox (in its
normal form) was by far the most popular of the three
types of clausula in the mediaeval cursus, and was usually
assigned the post of honour at the end of the period. 2
De Santi quotes 3 an interesting dictum on this subject
from one of the mediaeval text-books on dictamen, which,
as he observes, enforces the point by example as well as
by precept, the sentence ending with a sonorous velox:
' Cursus tamen velox maiorem ornatum efficit, et ideo
a dictatoribus communiter acceptatur.'

Cursus Medius.

Besides the normal forms of planus, tardus, and velox,
and their variations as described above, yet another form
of clausula was admitted, to which the name of cursus
medius (m) has been given, 4 consisting of a proparoxytone

1 See De Santi, op. cit., p. 26 ; Clark, op. cit, pp. 18, 19.

2 Dante, for example, concludes the De Monarchia with the velox,
' temporalium gubernator ' ; and his letter to Can Grande (Epist. x)
with another, ' in saecula saeculorum ' ; so also Epist. iv (iii),
1 praese"ntium requiratis ' ; Epist. vii, ' in gaudio recole"mus ' ; and
Epist. viii, ' posteris in exemplum ' ; even the Vita Nuova, which
ends with a Latin sentence, concludes with a velox, ' saecula
benedfctus '.

3 02?. cit., p. 25.

4 See De Santi, op. cit, p. 26 ; Clark, op. cit., pp. 18, 19 ; and
Parodi, in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix. 256-7. In this category
are also placed by some the clausulae classed above as planus* and
tardus 3 (see above, p. 227, n. 4 ; p. 228, n. 3).

230 LETTERS OF DANTE

trisyllable (or its equivalent) preceded by a paroxytone
dissyllable or polysyllable, the caesura falling after the
second syllable of the clausula ; as, coelum | circuit ;
(fo)vemu*r | meritis ; (miser)antem | quempiam ; nondum |
nobis est.

Table op Clausulae.

For convenience of reference and comparison the prin-
cipal types of clausula in the mediaeval cursus, with their
variations, as formulated above, are here tabulated with
typical examples.

Cursus Planus.

i >, , i / (esse videtur ) , -,,

K ' ' (longum sermonemj XJf '

(h\ cL I <v rv (v f esse videatur ) , ™ j

* ' ' J ** (dona sentiamus j ^ '

., t , jiudicabatur \ , «^

y ) (viv <v/ rw rv jtransgredientes j ^ '

Cursus Tardus.

t v , | , fesse videbitis } ux

(«)~~l~~~~ |raro iustitia |w

,, x , , , ( 6sse videamini ) , , 2 , s

(^"l^^^lfortisoperatio ] ■ «*

(e) ~ « ~ I ~ ~ ~ j iugiter P 6stu ? at 1 «•) '
v ' ' {commoda sitiensj v '

1 Otherwise known as cursus trispondaicus (see above, p. 227, n. 2).

2 Classed by soine as a type of cursus medius (see above, p. 227,
n. 4).

3 Otherwise known as cursus dispondeus dactylicus (see above,
p. 228, n. 2).

4 Classed by some as a type of cursus medius (see above, p. 228,
n. 3).

APPENDIX C 281

Cursus Velox.

(a) (v iv <v U (v iv (v (oninia videantur } , x

' (fletibus siipplicantis j v '

/ 7 % , | , (fletibus intemeratus ) / 2 \

() IVIVIVIVIVIVIVIV ,,.., , ... ,. [ (v z \

v ' ' (callide considerantes ) v *

,s , | , , (fletibus supplicantium) , , X1

W ~ ^*'* (W ~ 1 t(midae vldeamini f M

Oursus Medius.

(coelum circuit)

.•v rv v v iv

(.esse potent j v '

§ 2. The Cursus m the Z)e Monarchia, Be Vulgari
Eloquentia, and Quaestio de Aqua et Terra.

Before proceeding to the examination of these works
from the point of view of the cursus, it must be explained
that we must not expect to find the cursus observed
systematically in the purely argumentative and didactic
portions of these treatises, in which of necessity technical
terms and expressions have to be introduced which do
not easily lend themselves to the required manipulation ;
its observance must only be looked for in the more
rhetorical and personal passages. Such passages naturally
occur in the introductory and concluding.portions of the
works. 2

Now on applying the cursus test to the first chapter
of the first book of the De Monarclda we observe the

1 Otherwise known as cursus octosyllabicus (see above, p. 229, n. 1).

2 This will be found to be the case also in the letter to Can
Grande {Epist. x), the cursus being regularly observed in the
address and first four sections which constitute the epistolary
portions proper, but not in the remainder of the letter, which is
in the nature of a cornmentary, and full of technical terms and
quotations. Exceptions of a similar nature, it may be observed,
covering titles, dates, quotations, and technical phraseology
generally, were formally recognized in the rules of the cursus of
the Roman Curia (see Valois, ktude sur le Rythme des Bulles Pontifi-
cales, in Bihliolheque de V&cole des Charies, xlii. 258 ; and Poole, op. cit.,
pp. 80, 94.

232 LETTERS OF DANTE

occurrence of the recognized clausulae throughout ; thus
we find in 1. 3 : ' interesse videtur ' (pl) ; 11. 4-5 : ' anti-
quorum ditati sunt ' (t) ; 1. 5 : ' posteris prolaborent ' (v) ;
11. 6-7 : ' habeat quo ditetur ' (v) ; 11. 7-8 : ! esse non
diibitet ' (t) ; 11. 8-9 : ' documentis imbiitus ' (pl) ; 11. 9-
10 : ' adferre non ciirat ' (pl) ; 1. 12 : ' perniciosa vorago '
(pl) ; 1. 13: y semper ingurgitans ' (t) ; 11. 13-14: ' ingur-
gitata refundens' (pl); 11. 14-15: ' mecum recogitans'
(t) ; 1. 16 : ' quandoque redarguar ' (t) ; 1. 17 : ' modo
turgescere ' (t) ; 1. 18 : ' fructificare desidero ' (t) ; 1. 19 :
* ostendere veritates ' (v) ; 1. 21 : ' iterum demonstraret '
(v); 1. 22: 'felicitatem ostensam ' (pl) ; 11. 22-3: 're-
ostendere conaretur ' (v) ; 11. 23-4 : ' Cicerone defensam '
(pl) ; 1. 24 : resiimeret defensandam ' (v) ; 1. 26 : ' taediosa
praestaret ' (pl) ; 11. 27-8 : ' occiiltas et litiles ' (t) ; 1. 28 :
'Monarchiae notitia ' (t) ; 1. 29: 'maxime latens ' (pl 4 ) ;
1. 30: 'immediate ad liicrum ' (pl) ; 1. 31: 'omnibus
lntentata ' (v) ; 1. 32 : ' enucleare latibulis ' (t) ; 1. 33 :
'miindo pervigilem' (t) ; 1. 35 : ' gloriam adipiscar' (v) ;

I. 36 : " vires aggredior ' (t) ; 1. 37 : ' virtiite confidens '
(pl); 1. 38: « Largitoris illius' (pl) ; 11. 38-9: « omnibus
affluenter ' (v) ; 1. 39 : ' et non improperat ' (t).

Taking the last chapter of the first book, we find in

II. 2-3 : ' memorabilis attestatur ' (v) ; 11. 3-4 : ' illius
mortalium ' (t) ; 1. 5 : ' hominem adsumpturus ' (v) ; 1. 6 :
1 ipse disposuit ' (t) ; 1. 7 : ' primorum parentum ' (pl) ;
1. 9: Uempora recolamus ' (v) ; 11. 10-11: 'Augiisto
monarcha ' (pl) ; 1. 11 : 'monarchia perfecta ' (pl) ; 1. 12
'fuisse qmetum' (pl); 1. 13: ' fiierit felix' (pV) ; 1. 14

1 tranquillitate ' (pl 3 ) ; 1. 15 : ' historiographi omnes ' (pl*)
1. 15 : ' poetae illiistres' (pl) ; 1. 17: * testari dignatus est
(t) ; 1. 19 : ' felicissimum appellavit ' (v) ; 1. 20 : ' plena
fuerunt ' (pl) ; 1. 22 : ' ministro vacavit ' (pl) ; 1. 23 : ' ha-
buerit orbis ' (pl*) ; 1. 25 : ' primitus passa est ' (f) ; 1. 25 :
'legerepossumus' (^ 3 ); 1. 26: 'litinam non videre ' (v) ; 1. 26:
1 g6nus humanum ' (pl) ; 1. 27 : ' quantis procellis ' (pl) ;
1. 27 : ' atque iactiiris ' (pl) ; 11. 27-8 : ' quantisque
naufragiis ' (t) ; 1. 28 : ' agitari te necesse est ' (2 2 ) ; 1. 29 :
'capitum factum' (pl 4 ) ; 1. 30: ' diversa conaris ' (pl);

APPENDIX C 233

11. 30-1 : ' aegrotas utroque ' (pl) ; 1. 31 : ' similiter et
affectu ' (v) ; 11. 32-3 : ' superiorem non curas ' (pl) ; 1. 34 :
' inferiorem ' (pl 3 ) ; 1. 35 : ' divinae suasionis ' (pl 2 ) ; 1. 36 :
' tibi afnetur ' (pl) ; 11. 37-8 : ' fratres in unum ' (pl).

Finally, taking the concluding sentence of the whole
treatise, we get in 1. 135 : ' utatur ad Petrum ' (pl) ; 1. 136 :
' uti ad patrem ' (pl) ; 1. 137 : ' gratiae illustratus ' (v) ;
1. 138 : ' terrae irradiet ' (t) ; 1. 139 : ' solo praefectus est '
(t) ; 1. 140 : ' temporalium gubernator ' (v).

Turning next to the Be Vulgari Eloquentia, in the first
chapter of the first book we find, in 11. 2-3 : ' inveniamus
tractasse' (pl) ; 11. 4-5: 'necessariam videamus ' (v) ;
1. 7 : ' natiira permittit ' (pl) ; 1. 8 : ' lucidare illorum '
(pl) ; 1. 9 : ' ambulant per plateas ' (v) ; 1. 10 : ' posteriora
putantes ' (pl) ; 1. 11 : ' aspirante de coelis ' (pl) ; 1. 12 :
' prodesse tentabimus ' (t) ; 1. 13 : ' nostri ingenii ' (t) ;
1. 14: 'poculum haurientes ' (v) ; 1. 15: 'compilando ab
aliis ' (t) ; 1. 15 : ' potiora miscentes ' (pl) ; 1. 16 : ' potio-
nare possimus ' (pl); 11. 16-17: ' dulcissimum hydro-
mellum ' (v) ; 1. 18 : ' oportet non probare ' (pl 2 ) ; 1. 19 :
' aperire subiectum ' (pl) ; 1. 20 : ' illa versatur (pl) ; 11.
20-1 : ' celeriter attendentes ' (v) ; 1. 24 : ' voces incipiunt '
(t) ; 11. 24-5 : ' brevius dici potest ' (v) ; 1. 25 : ' locutionem
asserimus ' (t) ; 11. 26-7 : ' imitantes accipimus ' (t) ; 1. 28 :
' secundaria nobis ' (^ 4 ) ; 11. 29-30 : ' grammaticam voca-
verunt ' (v) ; 11. 30-1 : ' alii sed non omnes ' (v) ; 11. 31-2 :
1 pauci perveniunt ' (t) ; 1. 34 : • doctrinamur in illa '
(pl); 1. 35: 'nobilior est vulgaris ' (v) ; 1. 36: ' generi
tisitata ' (v) ; 1. 37 : ' ipsa perfriiitur ' (t) ; 1. 38 : ' vocabula
sit divisa' (v) ; 1. 39: 'naturalis est nobis' (pl) ; 1.40:
' artificialis existat ' (pl) ; 1. 41 : ' intentio pertractare ' (v).

The Be Vulgari Eloquentia being an unfinished work,
the concluding test cannot be applied in this case. Passing
now to the Quaestio de Aqua et Terra, we find in the
Proem, 1. 1 : ' universis et singulis ' (t) ; 11. 1-2 : ' literas
inspecturis ' (v) ; 1. 4 : ' eo saliitem ' (pl) ; 11. 4-5 : ' veri-
tatis et liimen ' (pl) ; and in the first section, 1. 2 :
' existente me Mantuae ' (t) ; 11. 2-3 : ' quaedam exorta
est ' (t) ; 1. 3 : ' dilatata multoties ' (t); 1. 5 : ' indeter-

284 LETTERS OF DANTE

minata restabat ' (pl) ; 1. 6 : ' amore veritatis ' (pV) ; 11.
6-7 : ' continue sim nutritus ' (v) ; 11. 7-8 : ' quaestionem
praefatam ' (pl) ; 1. 8 : ' linquere indiscussam ■ (v) ; 1. 9
1 verum ostendere ' (t) ; 1. 10 : ' contra dissolvere ' (t)
1. 11: ' veritatis amore ' ( pl) ; 11.11-12: ' odio falsitatis
(v) ; 1. 12 : ' livor multorum ' (pl) ; 11. 13-14 : ' confingere
solent ' (pl A ) ; 11. 14-15 : ' dicta transmiitent ' (pl) ; 1. 15 :
' placuit insuper ' (f ) ; 1. 16 : ' digitis exarata ' (v) ; 1. 17 :
1 a me relinquere ' (t) ; 1. 18 : ' calamo designare ' (v).

In the concluding section we get, in 11. 1-2 : ' philo-
sophia ' (pf) ; 11. 3-4 : ' sacrosancto Romano ' (pl) ; 1. 6 :
* urbe Verona ' (pl) ; 11. 6-7 : * Helenae gloriosae ' (v) ;
1. 7 : * clero Veronensi ' (pl 2 ) ; 11. 8-9 : ' caritate ardentes '
(pl) ; 1. 9 : ' rogamina non admittunt ' (v) ; 1. 10 : l humi-
litatis virtiitem ' (pl); 1. 12: ' probare videantur ' (pl 2 ) ;

I. 13 : ' interesse refiigiunt ' (t) ; and, leaving the date out
of consideration, 1 1. 19 : ' innuit venerandum ' (v).

In all three works, it may be remarked, cursus endings
are introduced from time to time even in the argumenta-
tive portions, especially at the end of chapters or sections ;
and its regular observance is noticeable in occasional
passages of some length in both of the longer treatises. 2

§ 3. The Gursus in the Epistolae.

In epistolary correspondence the strict observance of the
cursus, with the recognized exceptions, 3 was obligatory
throughout. As was to be expected, Dante's Epistolae are
no exception to the rule. 4 The letters ascribed to Dante
may be divided into two categories, namely those written
in his own name, and those written in the capacity of
secretary. 5 The first may be subdivided into political

1 See above, p. 231, n. 2.

2 For example, in De Monarchia, ii. 3, 11. 1-42 ; ii. 5, 11. 31-42 ;
iii. 16, 11. 75-113 ; and in De Vulgari Eloquentia, i. 5, 11. 10-34 ; i. 6,

II. 17-38 ; i. 7, 11. 1-70 ; i. 8, 11. 1-44 ; i. 9, 11. 1-107 ; &c., &c.

3 See above, p. 231, n. 2.

4 There are a few instances of clausulae which do not conform
to the recognized rules, but some of these may probably be accounted
f or by the corruption of the text (see below, pp. 246-7).

6 See Introduction, p. xxvi.

APPENDIX C 235

(comprising Epist. v, vi, vii, viii), and private and
personal (comprising Epist. ii, iii (iv), iv (iii), ix, x) ; in
the second would be included Epist. i, vii*, vii**, vii***.

For the purpose of applying the cursus test to the
Epistolae, a specimen may be selected of a representative
letter of each class. Taking the first section of the best
known of the political letters, Epist. vii (to the Emperor
Henry VII), we have :

* Immensa Dei dilectione testante (pl) 1 , relicta nobis est
pacis hereditas {t), ut in sua mira dulcedine (t) militiae
nostrae diira mitescerent (t), et in usu eius patriae trium-
phantis (v) gaiidia mereremur (v). At livor antiqui et
implacabilis hostis (pl% humanae prosperitati semper et
latenter insidians (t), nonnullos exheredando volentes (pl)
ob tutoris absentiam (t) nos alios impie denudavit in-
vitos (pl). Hinc diu super flumina confusionis defle
vimus (t), et patrocinia itisti regis (v) incessanter implora
bamus (pl s ), qui satellitium saevi tyranni disperderet (t)
et nos in nostra iustitia reformaret (v). Quumque tu
Caesaris et Augiisti successor (pl), Apennini iuga transi
liens (t), veneranda signa Tarpeia retulisti (v), protinus
longa substiterunt suspiria (t), lacrymarumque diluvia
desierunt (v) ; et, ceu Titan praeoptatus exoriens (t), nova
spes Latio saeculi melioris effiilsit (pl). Tunc plerique
vota sua praevenientes in iubilo (t), tam Saturnia regna
(pV) quam Virginem redeiintem (v) cum Marone canta-
bant (pl) \

For a specimen of the personal letters, the first two

1 It may be noted here that, strictly speaking, the clausula
only occurs where there is a pause, however slight ; but in
practice, with writers who observed the cursus, it became customary
to employ the formulae of the clausula even where there was no
pause. Numerous instances of this practice will be found through-
out the Epistolae of Dante. In this connexion Professor A. C. Clark
writes to me : ' With regard to those rhythms which are not
accompanied by a pause — there was a tendency to extend the use
of "numeri", and to employ them where there was no pause.
Also, in course of time, the harsher rhythms became obsolete, and
only the favourite "numeri" were employed. The consequence
was that late metrical prose became a cento of those "numeri"
from which the cursus developed.'

236 LETTERS OF DANTE

sections of Epist. ix (the well-known letter to a friend in
Florence) may be taken :

' In literis vestris (pV), et reverentia debita et affec-
tione receptis (pl), quam repatriatio mea curae sit vobis et
animo (t), grata mente ac diligenti animadversione con-
cepi (pl) ; et inde tanto me districtius obligastis (v), quanto
rarius exules invenire amicos contingit (pl). Ad illarum
vero significata responsio (t), etsi non erit qualem forsan
pusillanimitas appeteret aliquorum (v), ut sub examine
vestri consilii (t) ante iudicium ventiletur (v), affectuose
deposco (pl).

Ecce igitur quod per literas vestri meique nepotis (pl),
nec non aliorum quamplurium amicorum (v), significatum
est mihi (pV) per ordinamentum nuper factum Florentiae
(t) super absolutione bannitorum (pl 2 ) : quod si solvere
vellem certam pecuniae quantitatem (v), vellemque pati
notam oblationis (pl% et absolvi possem et redire ad
praesens (pl). In qua quidem diio ridenda (pl) et male
praeconsiliata sunt, Pater (pl) ; dico male praeconsiliata
per illos (pl) qui talia expresserunt (v), nam vestrae
literae discretius et consiiltius claiisulatae (v) nihil de
talibus continebant (v).'

Lastly, as specimen of a letter written in a secretarial
capacity we may take the first twenty lines of JEpist. i
(to the Cardinal Niccolo da Prato) :

' Praeceptis salutaribus moniti (^ 3 ) et Apostolica Pietate
rogati (pl), sacrae vocis contextui quem misistis (v), post
cara nobis consilia, respondemus (v). Et si negligentiae
sontes (pV) aut ignaviae censer^mur (v) ob iniuriam tardi-
tatis (v), citra iudicium (t) discretio sancta vestra praepon-
deret (t) ; et quantis qualibusque consiliis et responsis (v),
observata sinceritate consortii (t), nostra fraternitas (t)
decenter procedendo indigeat (t), et examinatis quae
tangimus (t), ubi forte contra debitam celeritatem (v 2 )
defecisse despicimur (t), ut aflluentia vestrae Benignitatis
indiilgeat deprecamur (v).

Ceu filii non ingrati (v) literas igitur piae Paternitatis
aspeximus (t), quae totius nostri desiderii personantes
exordia (t), siibito mentes nostras (v) subito tanta laetitia

APPENDIX C 237

perfuderunt (v), quantam nemo valeret (pl) seu verbo seu
cogitatione metiri (pl).'

The same test applied to any of the other letters, with
the exception of the argumentative and expository portions
of Epist. x (to Can Grande), will be found to give similar
results.

COMPOUND CLAUSULAE.

A striking feature of the cursus as employed by Dante
in the Epistolae, which, however, is not peculiar to Dante
nor to the Epistolae, though it is strongly marked in the
latter, is the frequent use of what may be termed com-
bined or compound clausulae, that is to say, clausulae in
which two or more of the recognized cursus formulae are
used in combination ; as, for example, ' rabies inopina
turgescet' (vii. 128-9), which is a combination of the
velox, * rabies inopina ', with the planus, ' (ino)pina tur-
gescet ' (v +pl) ; or, ' novus agricola Kdmanorum ' (v. 82),
which is a combination of the tardus, ' novus agricola ',
with the velox, l (a)gricola Eomanorum ' (t + v) ; or, ' (quid
tam) sera moretur segnities admiramur ' (vii. 47-8), which
is a combination of the planus, * sera moretur ', with the
tardus, ' (mo)retur segnities ', and of this again with the
velox, ' (seg)nities admiramur ' (pl + 1 + v) ; or, * viduam et
desertam lugere compellimur' (viii. 29-30), which is
a combination of the velox, * viduam et desertam ', with
the planus, ' (de)sertam lugere ', and of this with the tardus,
1 (lu)gere compellimur ' (v +pl + 1) ; and so on.

If we examine the specimen passages above quoted from
this point of view we shall find in the first (from Epist.
vii) eight instances ; namely in 1. 2 : ' nobis est pacis
hereditas ' (pl + 1) ; 11. 9-10 : ' impie denudavit invitos '
(v+pl) ; 1. 13 : ' saevi tyranni disperderet ' (pl + t) ; 1. 14 :
1 nostra iustitia reformaret ' (t + v) ; 1. 15 : ' Caesaris et
Augiisti successor' (v+pl); 1. 17: ' signa Tarpeia retu-
listi' (t + v); 11. 18-19: ' (lacryma)rumque diluvia desie-
runt' (t + v); 11. 20-1: 'saeculi melioris effiilsit' (v+pl) ;
in the second (from Epist. ix) seven instances ; in 1. 3 :
' ciirae sit vobis et animo ' (pl + t); 11. 6-7: 'exules

238 LETTERS OF DANTE

invenire amicos contingit' (v+pl+pl); 1. 11: 'ante
iudicium ventiletur' (t + v); 11. 13-14: 'vestri meique
nepotis' (pl+pl); 11. 14-15: '(ali)orum quamplurium
amicorum ' (t + v); 11. 18-19 : \ certam peeiiniae quanti-
tatem' (t + v); 11. 25-6: 'nihil de talibus continebant'
(t+v) ; and in the third (from Epist. i) eight instances ; in
1. 2 : ' (Apos)tolica Pietate rogati ' (v +pl) ; 11. 2-3 : ' vocis
contextui quem misistis (t + v); 11.3-4: ' nobis consilia
respondemus ' (t + v) ; 11. 6-7 : ' (dis)cretio sancta vestra
praeponderet ' (v + t); 11. 7-8 : ; (quali)biisque consiliis et
responsis' (t + v); 11. 13-14: ' (benigni)tatis indulgeat
deprecamur ' (t + v); 1. 17: * (desi)derii personantes
exordia ' (v + f); 11. 18-19 : ' tanta laetitia perfuderunt '
(t + v).

Examples of similar compound clausulae may be noted
occasionally in Dante's other prose works ; thus in the
De Monarchia, i. 1, 1. 8 : * publicis documentis imbiitus '
(v + pl); i. 1, 11. 27-8: ; (veri)tates occiiltas et utiles'
(pl + t); i. 13, 1. 22: 'vita et moribus informari ' (t + v) ;
ii. 4, 11. 48-50: * (scrip)tores illiistres concorditer conte-
stantur ' (pl + t + v) ; ii. 6, 11. 13-14 : f sibi adscivit im-
perii dignitatem ' (pl + t + v), &c. ; so in the De Vulgari
Eloquentia, i. 1, 11. 33-4 : 4 (regu)lamur et doctrinamur in
illa ' (v +pl) ; ii. 3, 1.3: (sol)licite vestigareconemur'(v+i?Z);
ii. 6,1. 89: ' (constructi)one plebescere desuetos' (t + v);
i. 1, 11. 16-17: *(potio)nare possimus dulcissimum hydro-
mellum' (pl + t + v); i. 9, 11. 106-7 : { (lo)corum diversitas
facit esse diversos ' (t + v +pl) ; and in the Quaestio de Aqua
et Terra, Proem, 11. 4-5 : ' (prin)cipium veritatis et lumen'
(v +pl) ; § 24, 11. 8-9 : ' nimia caritate ardentes ' (v -\-pl) ;
§ 24, 1. 9 : '(alijorum rogamina non admittunt' (t + v). 1

1 This usage, in connexion with wliich Parodi uses the terms
' intrecciare ' and ' incatenatura ' (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xix.
258, 274), is analogous to, and probably, as Professor A. C. Clark
has suggested to me, a development from, the ' constructive
rhythm ' (i. e. the rhythm which pervades the whole sentence —
1 durchgehende Rhythmus', as Zielinski terms it) of the 'prosa
numerosa' of Cicero. In a review of Zielinski's ' Der constructive
Rhythmus in Cicero's Reden', in the Classical Review for Feb. 1916
(pp. 22-6), Professor Clark writes : ' While rhythm pervades the

APPENDIX C 239

Taking into account only those compound clausulae the
members of which consist of the normal forms of planus,
tardus, and velox, and leaving out of consideration those
into whose composition one or other of the various alter-
native or secondary forms enters, we find the following
types (divided into two classes, according as they are com-
posed of two, or three, members) represented in Dante's
Epistolae :

A. Clausulae composed of two members.

i. With planus final.
(pl +pl), as :

' equis armisque vacantem ' (ii. 51-2).

1 pauci cum fletu cernetis ' (vi. 121-2).
(v+pl), as:

' fmpia retinere molitur ' (ii. 54).

' merito trepidatis adventum ' (v. 57-8).

ii. With tardus final.
(pl + t), as:

' meum ligavit arbitrium ' (iv (iii). 33-4).

'iura tutanda imperii ' (vii. 51).
(v + t), as:

1 gaudium expectatum videbimus ' (v. 8-9).

' iterum iam punita barbaries ' (vi. 169).

whole sentence, there are certain places at which it becomes more
manifest. These are the pauses . . . at the end of the K6fXfxa (Lat.
incisum), of the kSjKov (Lat. membrum), and of the ire piodos ,(Lat.
ambitus, &c). At each pause the speaker punctuates by a rhythm.
There is thus a close connexion between rhythm and the articula-
tion of the sentence. . . . Quintilian uses clausula of the Kw\a as
well as of the period. We are wont to use the word of the period
only. There is no reason why it should not be extended to the
smaller divisions of the sentence. If so, we may speak of the
clausula of the period, the clausula of the ku>\ov, and the clausula
of the Kofx/ia. . . . The difference between these clausulae is one of
quantity, not of kind. . . . The end of the sentence is the place for
tune ; in the Ku>\a discordant notes are permissible. It follows
that in the Kofmara the measure will be harsher still. Zielinski
puts the point well when he compares the final numeri to " cream ",
those of the major divisions in the sentence to the ordinary
" milk " of commerce, and those of the minor to " skimmed milk " '
(pp. 23-4).

240 LETTERS OF DANTE

iii. With velox final.
(t + v), as :

'vitae principium impetivit' (vii. 120-1).
' dira cupidine conflagrantes ' (viii. 187).

B. Clausulae composed of three members.

i. With planus final.
(pl+pl+pl), as:

' (splen)descit ab ortu Auroram demonstrans' (v. 3-4).

' lacte ac melle manantem perducens ' (v. 21-2).
(v+pl+pl), as :

'luere destinatos videre pigebit' (vi. 114).

' potero speculari ubique sub coelo ' (ix. 49).
(t + v+pl), as:

' (pro)pinqua ut adsolet fiiribunda deflectat ' (vii. 34-5).

1 suis erroribus obviare tenemur ' (x. 49-50).

ii. With tardus final.
(pl+pl + t), as:

'Deum quaerebant ut finem et optimum' (viii. 120).
'famae Dantisque honori non deroget' (ix. 42-3).
(v+pl + t), as:

' (inexpugna)bilibus argumentis instriicta praenuntians '

(vi. 116-17).
' viduam et desertam lugere compellimur' (viii. 29-30).
(t+v + t), as:

' sibi et Caesari imiversa distribuens ' (v. 152).
'(nunc Pi)renen, nunc Caucason, niinc Atlanta super-
volans ' (vi. 82-3).

iii. With velox final.
(pl + t + v), as:^

' velut ignari decipere vosmetipsos (v. 110-11).

' (quum cer)vicem Cremonae deflexeris contumacis '

(vii. 126-7).
(v+t + v), as:

' (im)perio res humanas disposuit gtibernandas ' (vi.4-5).
' (vota) Caesaris et Augiistae feliciter adimplebat '

(vii***. 6-7).

Instances of compound clausulae of the first class, those

APPENDIX C 241

composed of two members, of which there are five types,
are naturally far more numerous than those of the second,
composed of three members. The type which occurs
most frequently in the Epistolae is (t + v), of which I have
noted 77 instances ; next comes (v+pl), with 73 instances ;
then (pl + t), with 49 ; (v + t), with 48 ; and (pl+pl), with
36. Of the eight types comprised in the second class,
none occurs more than half a dozen times, nor less than
twice ; that of most frequent occurrence being (pl+pl + t),
that of the least frequent (v+pl + f).

If the cursus meclkts (m), and secondary forms, be taken
into consideration the number of types will be very
largely increased. Of two-member clausulae of this
description I have noted among those of most frequent
occurrence (m + v) and (pl 2 +pl), with upwards of 50
instances each ; and (pl 2 + t), with upwards of 30.
Examples of the first (m + v) are : ' nymphis aliis dere-
lictis ' (iii (iv). 46-7) ; ' Paulus gentium praedicator ' (viii.
25) ; of the second (pl 2 +pl) : ' pacis amatores et iusti '
(i. 55) ; ' fluctus Amphitritis attingens ' (vii. 58-9) ; and
of the third (pl 2 +t)i 'pium deserentes imperium' (vi.
50-1) ; ' regem aspernata legitimum ' (vii. 167-8).

Of three-member clausulae of the same description the
most frequent is (pl*+pl 2 +pl), with eight instances, as:
' maria quondam transvolando despexit' (vi. 84-5) ; ' Tiberi
tuo criminosa potatur' (vii. 139-40) ; next come, with seven
instances each, (v+pl 2 +pl), as: '(spon)tanea et sincera
voluntate subimus ' (i. 56-7) ; ' (sine) omnium detrimento
interire non potest' (vi. 45-6); and (m + v+pl), as:
'ultra medium praemiando se ffgit ' (v. 41-2); 'vestris
animis infigenda supersunt' (vi. 179); then, with five
instances each, (pl ^+pl + t), as : ' liberum meum ligavit
arbitrium' (iv (iii). 33); 'fulguris instar descendens affiierit'
(v. 53-4); (pl + pl 2 + t), as: 'absit a viro praedicante
iustitiam' (ix. 36-7) ; ' etsi divinis comprobatur elogiis ' (vi.
8-9) ; (m + v + 1), as : ' (se)veri iudicis adventante iudicio '
(vi. 24) ; 'mentis aciem penetrando dulcescerent' (vii*.3-4) ;
and (pl + m + v), as : ' velut a patre filiis ministrantur '
(iii(iv). 54-5); 'coelietterraeDominusordinavit^v.l^^-S). 1

1 It may be mentioned here that occasional instances occur in

242 LETTERS OF DANTE

SlMPLE CLAUSULAE.

Of the simple clausulae, planus, tardus, and velox, in their
normal forms, velox is of the most frequent occurrence in
the Epistolae, the number of instances being 205 ; tardus
coming next with 198 ; and planus last with 163. In
combination, as final member in compound clausulae,
planus comes first with 213 instances, then tardus with
196, and velox with 172 ; the totals in each case, single
and in combination, being tardus 394, velox 377, and
planus 376.

Dante's uses of the velox.

Some of Dante's uses of the velox are deserving of
attention. For the alliterative velox, employed generally
as it would appear with a view to emphasis, he shows
a marked predilection. Of these I have noted some twenty
instances in the Epistolae ; e. g. ' (in)dulgeat deprecamur '
(i. 13) ; ' (tam) debite quam devote ' (i. 71) ; ' (exem)plaria
esse possunt ' (ii. 40) ; ' pocula propinabit ' (v. 44) ; ' (locum)
corvulis occupatum ' (v. 56) ; ' (ad) regimen reservati '
(v. 102); 'dirimens duo regna' (v. 151-2); 'nesciens
atque nolens ' (vi. 100) ; ■ plurima vestri parte ' (vi. 119) ;
'(nasci de) Virgine voluisset' (vii. 71); '(per)nicies niin-
cupatur (vii. 142) ; ' fugient Philistei ' (vii. 182-3) ; *■ quanta
vel qualis ego' (vii.* 6-7); 'litinam diuturna* (vii.* 8) ;
' pia et haec privata ' (viii. 101) ; ' foveat et defendat ' (viii.
142) ; ' (su)perius proclamatur ' (viii. 145-6) ; ' (in) saecula
saeculorum' (x. 628). With- these may be classed a
certain number in which the alliteration is not confined
strictly within the limits of the clausula ; as : * helio-
tropium hebetata' (v. 11-12); 'confidentius coniugabit'
(v. 84) ; ' delirantis Hesperiae domitorem ' (vi. 87) ; ' diluvia
desierunt'(vii. 19); 'fiduciaconfortatur^vii. 78); 'posteri-

the Epistolae of what might be regarded as clausulae composed of
four members; for example (v + t + v+pl), as : ' (apos)tolicae
monarchiae similiter invidere non libet ' (vi. 53 r 4) ; and (v+pl +
t + v), as : ' digitum prophetiae propheta direxerit Isaias ' (vi. 185-6).
But in view of the rarity of their occurrence it is probable that
these and others of a like description are due rather to accident
than to design.

APPENDIX C 243

tas praestolatur ' (vii. 96) ; ' cervicem Cremonae deflexeris
contumacis ' (vii. 127) ; ' vipera versa in viscera genitricis '
(vii. 144) ; ' voluntatis idolum venerando ' (vii. 166) ; cupi-
dine conflagrantes ' (viii. 187) ; ' consiiltius claiisulatae '
(ix. 24). Similar instances of the alliterative velox may
be noted in Dante's other prose works ; e. g. in the De
Monarchia: 'posteris prolaborent' (i. 1, 1. 5); 'meritis
mensuranda ' (ii. 3, 1. 23) ; ' concorditer contestantur '
(ii. 4, 1. 49) ; ■ fidei fundamentum ' (iii. 3, 11. 61-2) ; ' sub-
stantiae siibsistentis ' (iii. 12, 1. 48); 'a sacerdotio de-
manaret ' (iii. 14, 1. 39) ; ' cupiditas postergaret ' (iii. 16,
1. 72) ; in the JDe Vulgari Eloquentia : ' ad commercium
convenirent ' (i. 7, 1. 51) ; ' excellentius exercebant ' (i. 7,

I. 60); 'varie varietur' (i. 9, 1. 89); 'dignissima nun-
cupamus ' (ii. 2, 1. 45) ; ' carissime conservantur ' (ii. 3,

II. 42, 44) ; ' vulgaria ventilamus ' (ii. 8, 1. 57) ; ' syllabis
siiperatam' (ii. 11, 1. 43); and in the Quaestio: 'destrui
debebatur' (§ 12, 1. 65); 'adaequatio quantitatis' (§ 17,
11. 16-17).

Another characteristic to be noted in this connexion is
Dante's employment of consecutive velox, of which more
than a dozen instances occur in the Epistolae ; e. g. ' prae
titulis Italorum aereum lllustrabat ' (ii. 12); 'regiae sempi-
ternae aulicus praeelectus' (ii. 34-5) ; 'assiirgite regivestro,
incolae Latiales ' (v. 100) ; * in cordibus et dicentes : Domi-
num non habemus' (v. 112-13); 'vix Itali infelices
lacrymis metiiintur ' (vi. 18-19) ; ' patriae triumphantis
gaiidia mereremur ' (vii. 4-5) ; ' propriae voluntatis idolum
venerando ' (vii. 166-7) ; 'amicis omnibus veritatem docuit
praeferendam ' (viii. 84) ; ■ filiae sanguisiigae factae sunt
tibi mirus' (viii. 110-11); ' dulcissimas veritates potero
speculari ' (ix. 48-9).

Types of velox used by Dante.
Though as a general rule Dante employs one or other
of the three recognized forms of normal velox, viz. of the
types : ' facies veritatis ' (vii. 26) ; or, ' credimus et spera-
mus ' (vii. 35) ; or, ' nesciens atque nolens ' (vi. 100) l ;
he on occasion allows himself the licence of substituting

1 See above, pp. 228-9.
r2

244 LETTERS OF DANTE

a dissyllable and monosyllable for the pre-caesura tri-
syllable ; as : ( (super) astra nunc amuenter ' (ii. 7) ; ( (de
passi)6ne in passionem ' (iii (iv). 4) ; ( quamvis ex ore tiio '
(iii (iv). 8) ; l (leo) fortis de tribu Iuda ' (v. 18) ; ( prope est
vestra salus ' (v. 70) ; ( (intelli)gamus et eius velle ' (v. 125) ' ;
( tamquam per coelos novos ' (v. 134) ; ( (in) fide pro libertate'
(vi. 123) ; ' quanta vel qualis ego ' (vii*. 6-7) ; ' falli vel
praepediri' (vii**. 13); 'pia et haec privata ' (viii. 101);
'factae sunt tibi mirus' (viii. 111); '(in)v6nta non at-
testantur' (viii. 125-6); or of substituting two mono-
syllables for one of the post-caesura dissyllables in the
last of the three types ; as : ' (implo)rantibus ciim sit
Caesar ' (v. 38) ; ( vertitur in se ipsam ' (v. 96) ; ' (in
con)traria pro et contra' (vi. 107-8); '(in) diibium quae
sunt certa ' (vii. 33) ; * forsitan, et quis iste ' (viii. 67) ; or,
( (primo)genitus tiius et rex ' (vii. 93) ; ( (di)vitiae mecum
non sunt ' (viii. 73).

Of the alternative or secondary forms of velox, namely
(y 2 ), of the type ' callide considerantes ', and (v*), termed
bysome cursus octosyllabicus, of the type 'fletibus supplican-
tium', 1 Dante makes comparatively sparing use. I have
noted the following instances, among others, 2 of (v 2 ) :
'(contra) debitam celeritatem' (i. 11-12); 'principem
praedestinasse ' (v. 117) ; ( gravius praecipitetur ' (vi. 98) ;
'quas tulit calamitates' (vi. 122-3); 'Phaeton exorbi-
tastis ' (viii. 46) ; ( (accura)tissime colere ipsum ' (viii. 153) ;
and the following of (v d ) : ( mimero sed non specie ' (iii
(iv). 7) ; * nescio qua dulc^dine ' (v. 60-1) ; ( (per) talia
praecedentia ' (v. 145) ; ( non modo sapientia ' (vi. 58) ;
( alteri Babylonii ' (vi. 50) ; ( (amari)tudinem poenitentiae '
(vi. 177); '(in) reprobum sensum traditur' (vii. 172);
( hinc inde commorantium' (viii. 59) ; ' (of)ficium iisurpanti-
bus ' (viii. 98) ; ( (in)iiiriam inferentibus ' (ix. 38).

THE ( TYRANNY ■ OF THE CurSUS.

A remarkable instance occurs in the Epistolae of what
may be termed the ( tyranny ' of the cursus — all the more

1 See above, p. 229.

2 I have noted about a dozen in all of (v 2 ), and about a score of (v 8 ).

APPENDIX C 245

remarkable in the case of Dante, who with regard to the
rhymes of the Divina Commedia is reported to have
boasted that 'never a rhyme had led him to say other
than he would, but that many a time and oft he had
made words say in his rhymes what they were not wont
to express for other writers ' . x

The passage in question is in Epist vi. 135 ff., where
Dante reminds the rebellious Florentines of the fate of
Milan and Spoleto at the hands of Barbarossa: 'Sed
recensete fulmina Federici prioris ; et Mediolanum con-
sulite pariter et Spoletum ; quoniam ipsorum perversione
simul et eversione discussa viscera vestra nimium dilatata
frigescent, et corda vestra nimium ferventia contrahentur \
When first revising the text of this letter, before I had
taken the cursus into consideration, I was inclined to
think that the two verbs * frigescent ' and l contrahentur '
must have accidentally got misplaced, and I was tempted
to suggest that they should be transposed, a suggestion
which I found later had also occurred to Giuliani. But
when I came to examine the passage afresh from the
point of view of the cursus I was soon convinced that
in the textus receptus we have what Dante wrote. The
suggested transposition ('dilatata contrahentur ' and 'fer-
ventia frigescent') would involve a double violation of
the cursus, which is strictly observed in the text as it
stands, 'dilatata frigescent ' giving aplanus, and * ferventia
contrahentur ' ending the period with the conventional
velox, the fifth in a sequence of six. 2 It would appear,
therefore, that on this occasion Dante was driven to
sacrifice propriety in order to meet the exigencies of the
cursus. 3

1 The author of the Ottimo Comento in his comment on Inf. x. 85-7
says : ' Io scrittore udii dire a Dante, che mai rima nol trasse
a dire altro che quello ch' avea in suo proponimento ; ma ch' elli
molte e spesse volte facea li vocaboli dire nelle sue rime altro che
quello, ch' erano appo gli altri dicitori usati di sprimere '.

2 Namely, 'Caesare prorup6runt' (11. 131-2); 'victoriam sint
adepti ' (1. 133) ; ' memorabiliter consecuti ' (11. 134-5) ; ' pariter
et Spoletum ' (1. 137) ; 'ferventia contrahentur » (11. 140-1) ; < vitio
inaensati ' (1. 142).

3 Professor A. C. Clark has drawn my attention to the somewhat

246 LETTERS OF DANTE

The requirements of the cursus doubtless also account for
Dante's use in the Epistolae of the names 'Naso' and
1 Maro ' instead of ' Ovidius ' and • Virgilius ' ; as in Epist.
iii (iv). 40 : ' Auctoritatem vero Nasonis ' * (pl) ; and
Epist. vii. 23-4 : ' Virginem redeuntem cum Marone canta-
bant ' (pl) ; as well as of ' Latialis ' instead of ' Italicus '
in at least one passage where it occurs, viz. in Epist.
v. 100 : ' fncolae Latiales ' 2 (v).

Irregular Clausulae.

Among clausulae in the Epistolae which do not conform
to any of the commonly accepted types the following may
be noted :

i. (<v <v | <v <v). Paroxytone dissyllable preceded by par-
oxytone dissyllable (or polysyllable), the caesura fall-
ing after the second syllable of the clausula. Of this
type I have noted six instances, viz. '(in lumine radi)-
orum eius ' (v. 14-15) ; ' (qui bibitis flu)enta eius ' (v. 105) ;
' (oblivis)catur siii ' (vi. 65); '(quia) caeciestis' 3 (vi. 151-2) ;
1 (in) usu eius ' (vii. 4) ; and without caesura, ' (humanae
appre)hensioni ' (v. 123-4).

ii. (pL (v <v | ri). Monosyllable preceded by proparoxytone
trisyllable (or its equivalent), the caesura falling after
the third syllable of the clausula. Of this type I have
noted the following three instances : * (na)tiira non viilt '

similar case of the use by Asiatic writers of TrapavXrjpw^aTa, or
vvords ' numero inservientia ', which is referred to by Cicero in the
Orator, § 69 : ' Apud alios autem, et Asiaticos maxime, numero
servientes, inculcata reperias inania quaedam verba, quasi comple-
menta numerorum '. There can be no doubt, says Professor Clark,
that the Latins frequently chose words which gave the desired
rhythm, even if they were otiose, or if they were not the most
appropriate to convey the particular nuance of sense suitable to the
context.

1 Dante no doubt could have written ' v6ro Ovidii ' (t), and still
have observed tho cursus, but he avoided the cacophony by the
substitution of 'Nasonis'.

8 The printed texts read 'Italiae', but the MS. reading is
1 Latiales '.

8 Parodi suggests (Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital, N.S. xix. 258) that
possibly the right reading is 'quoniam caeci ^stis' (velox).

APPENDIX D 247

(vi. 47-8) ; ' (pul)satur ad nos ' (viii. 136) ; ' (Magnifi)centiae
laus ' » (x. 1).

iii. (ri <v <v | <v (v (v <v). Proparoxytone tetrasyllable (or
its equivalent) preceded by proparoxytone trisyllable, the
caesura falling after the third syllable of the clausula.
Of this type I have noted three instances, two in Epist.viu,
viz. 'cernere haeresium ' 2 (11. 31-2) ; ' cogitant aut somniant '
(11. 124-5) ; the third in Epist. v, ' quoniam Augustus est '
(11. 45-6). This last might be rectified by the substitu-
tion of ' quia ' for ' quoniam ' (the converse of the proposed
rectification of vi. 15 1-2), 3 giving ' quia Augustus est '
(tardus).

APPENDIX D

CORRESPONDENCES AND DIVERGENCES IN THE
THREE MS. TEXTS OF EPIST. VII. 4

[M. = CW. Marc. Lat. xiv. 115; F. = Cod. S. Pantaleo 8;
V. = Cod. Vat-Palat. Lat. 1729.]

i. Agreement of V. ancl P. against M.

The most striking divergences of M. from V. and P.
are the following : 1. 7. V.P. laten(an)ter : M. conlatenter ;
1. 10. V.P. super: M. semper; 1. 17. V.P. tarpeia: M.
turpia ; 1. 19. V.P. preoptatus : M. precipitatus ; 1. 51. V.P.
tutanda : M. tuendi ; 1. 60. V.P. scriptum etenim nobis
(V. uoois) est: M. scriptum est enim nobis; 1. Q6. V.P.
ignis eterni fiamma: M. ignis flamma ; 1. 70. V.P. edicto :
M. edicit ; 1. 73. V.P. quem omnem iustitiam implere decebat :

1 De Santi (op. cit., p. 29) makes ' laus' here a dissyllable, giving
(' Magnifi)centiae laiis' (pl*) ; but I can find no other instance
of such use.

2 On the possible corruption of the text here, see above,
p. 129, n. 3.

3 See above, p. 246, n. 3.

4 See above, pp. 82-3,

248 LETTERS OF DANTE

M. qui omnem iustitiam implere debebat ; 1. 74. V.P. angu-
stissima : M. angusta ; 1. 75. V.P. irretiri: M. mctiri ; 1. 81.
V.P. iterum vox : M. igitur vos ; 1. 83. V. P. Jirmate : M.flrmari ;
1.87.V.P. iterum: M..omits; 1. 104. V.P. unxitquetedominus:
M. unxitque deus ; 11. 108-9. V.P. non parcas: M. parcas
minime; 1. 110. V.P. de gente: M. o3e aen£e w gentem ;
1. 118. V.P. repullulante : M. repupulare ; 1. 122. V.P.
ramorum: M. romanorum; 1. 123. V.P. virulente(r) rami-
ficent : M. via terre ramescent ; 1. 125. V.P. preses : M. gwi
prees; 1. 130. V.P. flagcllata: M. flagellum; 1. 132. V.P.
huiusmodi: M. huius ; V.P. radicalis: M. rabies ; 1. 135.
V.P. principum : M. principium ; 1. 140. V.P. potatur :
U.potant; 1. 149. V.P./ata: M. semper ; 11. 152-4. V.P.
luendo . . . contendit : M. omifc ; 1. 160. V.P. illiciendo : M.
aliciendo ; 1. 161. V.P. infatuat : M. insinuat ; 1. 162.
V.P. ardet: M. omits; 1. 170. V.P. attendat: M. accendit;
1. 173. V.P. non conueniunt : M. e£iam conueniunt; 1. 176.
V.P. aftera: M. aZfa ; 1. 181. V.P. woz: M. wos ; 1. 186.
V.P. gwem ad modum : M. quidem ad modum ; 1. 190.
V.P. recolemus: M. reuelemur.

ii. Agreement o/P. andM. against V.

The most striking instances of agreement are : P.M.
aiye ##e: V. omits; 1. 9. P.M. impie: V. impios; 1. 36.
P.M. £e oei ministrum: V. £e ministrum; 1. 56. P.M. m
augustum: V. wow augustum; 1. 79. P.M. co(h)artando :
V. cohortando ; 1. 91. P.M. regnum: V. regimen; 1. 105.
P.M. regem: V. reaem superlsrael ; 1. 138. P.M. recumbat :
V. decumbat ; 11. 144-6. P.M. 7*ec languida pecus que gregem
. . . commaculat : V. /iec es£ languida pecus gregem . . . com-
maculans; 1. 151. P.M. furialiter in bella vocavit: V. m
bella furialiter provocavit ; 1. 165. P.M. assensum: V.ascen-
sum; 1. 174. P.M. iniusta: V. iwsfo; P.M. owe colophon:
V. owifc.

iii. Agreement of V. and M. against P.

The most striking instances of agreement are :
1. 9. V.M. denudauit: P. denudare; 1. 46. V.M. foZZ#: P.
foZZis; 1. 51. V.M. iwra : P. wita ; 1. 52. V.M. ligurum:

APPENDIX E 249

P. ligineranj ; 1. 53. V. M. aduertens : P. aduerteris ; 1. 86.
V. a nubis, M. Annubis: P. a nubibus; 1. 91. V.M. regna:
P. tellus; 1. 105. V.M. dews: P. dominus ; 1. 115. V.M.
rens : P. «ms ; 1. 133. V.M. radice . . . auulsa : P. rad£#
. . . euulsa; 1. 141. V.M. rtos : P. W^ws; 1. 147. V.
Cinarc patris, M. Ginere posita : P. amore patris ; 1. 163.
V.M. procacitate: V. pro capacitate ; 1. 167. V.M. regem:
P. rajrem suum; 11. 179-80. V.M. afcjwe m lapide: P. a£ m
lapidem.

APPENDIX E

THE EELATIONS BETWEEN THE S. PANTALEO
ITALIAN TKANSLATION OF J£PIOT. VII AND
THE S. PANTALEO LATIN TEXT. 1

There exist two early Italian translations of Dante's
letter to the Emperor Henry VII (Epist. vii). The first,
which was undoubtedly executed in the fourteenth century,
has, so far as is known, been preserved in one MS. only
(of Cent. xiv), namely God. S. Pantaleo 8 in the Biblioteca
Vittorio Emanuele at Kome. This translation was first
printed in the Modern Language Review, vol. ix, pp. 335-
43. The second, which at one time was attributed to
Marsilio Ficino (1433 — 99), but which probably dates
from towards the end of the fourteenth century, has been
preserved in at least ten MSS. (two of which have been
assigned to Cent. xiv, while the remainder belong to
Cent. xv), 2 and has many times been printed. 8

That these two translations are the work of different
hands, a comparison of the text of the former with the
renderings of the later version (where they differ), as

1 See above, p. 84.

2 See P. Wagner, Die Echtheit der drei Kaiserbriefe Dantes im Lichte
der Kritik (Koln, 1907), pp/10-11.

8 See Fraticelli, Opere minori di Dante (Firenze, 1892), vol. iii,
pp. 462-3 ; see also Mod. Lang. Rev. vii. 4-5.

250 LETTERS OF DANTE

given in the apparatus criticus of the above-mentioned
article, will prove almost beyond question. 1

The same MS. (Cod. S. Pantaleo 8) which contains the
earlier translation contains also, following immediately
after it, but transcribed by a different copyist, the Latin
text of the letter (a transcript of which was printed in
the Modern Language Beview, vol. vii, pp. 208-14).
How far this translation was made direct from the Latin
text in the same MS. (which is the earliest of the three
MSS. in which Epist. vii has been preserved), and how
far, consequently, it can be regarded as an independent
authority, is an interesting question. On the one hand,
there are several remarkable coincidences, three of them
involving the same blunder, which seem to point to
a close relation between the two. On the other hand,
there is the no less striking fact that in a large number of
instances the translation is markedly at variance with
the accompanying Latin text ; from which it is evident
that the translator cannot have been dependent upon the
S. Pantaleo Latin text alone for his version, but must
have had before him some other textual authority. It
follows, therefore, that the Italian translation contained
in this MS., which in one instance 2 offers a more correct
reading than any of the extant MSS. of the Latin text,
has a certain independent value of its own, as representing
a text of the original which has since disappeared.

The chief coincidences between the Italian translation
and the Latin text in the S. Pantaleo MS. are the
following :

In the title, al gloriosissimo et felicissimo triunfactore 8 =
gloriosissimo atque felicissimo triumpliatori (where the

1 It will be noted at the same time that the earlier version is, as
a rule, far more correct than the later one. (See, however, Parodi,
in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital., N.S. xxii. 138.)

a Namely in 1. 56, where all three MSS. of the Latin text read
Augustum, the translation has strectecca, representing angustum,
which is undoubtedly the correct reading.

3 Here the later translation is in agreement.

APPENDIX E 251

Venetian MS. 1 reads sanctissimo triumphatori, while in the
Vatican MS. 2 the title is wanting).

In § 1, crudelmente 3 = impie (V. impios ; M. impie).

sole innanci desiato 4 = Titan preoptatus (so V. ;
M. precipitatus).
In § 4, la voce discesa del cielo h = vox a nubibus (V. a

nubis ; M. Annubis).
In § 7, U suoi custumi anchora intorbeano li corsi del
fiume d' arno 6 ; = sarni fluenta torrentis adliuc
ntus inficiunt (V. M. rictus).
nello amore del padre 7 = in amore patris (V. in
Cinare patris ; M. in Cinere posita).

It will be noted that in each of these last three passages
the blunder of the S. Pantaleo Latin text (a nubibus for
Anubis ; ritus for rictus ; and in amore patris for in Cinyrae
patris) is faithfully reproduced in the translation.

The principal divergences, on the other hand, which
are far more numerous than the coincidences, are as
follows :

In § 1, soperbo inimico 8 = inplacabilis hostis (so V.
M.).
spollio = denudare (a blunder for denudavit, the

reading of V. M.).
piangeremo 9 = defievimus (so V. M.).
In § 3, le rasione (i. e. le ragioni 10 ) = vita (a blunder for
iura, the reading of V. M.).

1 Cod. Marc. Lat. xiv. (= MA For a transcript of this text, see
Mod. Lang. Rev., vol. vii, pp. 433-40.

2 Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729 ( = V.). For a transcript of this text,
see Mod. Lang. Eev., vol. vii, pp. 6-12.

8 Here again the two translations are in agreement.

4 Here the later translation has sole molto desiderato, the translator
having evidently read peroptatus.

5 So the later translation.

6 The later translation has li suoi inganni awelenano.

7 The later translation has nelfuoeo degli abbracciamenti del padre.

8 So the later translation.

9 The later translation has piangemo.
10 So the later translation.

252 LETTERS OF DANTE

Lombardia l = ligineranj (a blunder for ligurum,

the reading of V. M.).
strectecca= Augustum(a,bl\mder, whichis common

also to V. M, for angustum).
In § 4, confortando = coartando (a blunder for cohortando,

the reading of V. ; M. cohartando).
i regni deli romani = Romanaque tellus (V. M.

Romanaque regna).
In § 5, gli altri 2 = Latinos (so V. ; M. Latino).
antiguardiamo* =precaveant (so V. M.).
altri consigli* = alta consilia (so V. M.).
In § 6, solicitamente 5 = instanter (so V. M.).

vergeando 6 = virulente (V. virulenter ; M. via

terre).
In § 7, rabbia 7 = same (so V. ; M. fumo).

con malvagio vageiamento 8 = improba pro capaci-

tate (V. M., improba procacitate).
adrende (for adtende) = adtendat (so V. ; M.

accendit, for attendit).
convengono* = wow conveniunt (so V. ; M.

e£iam c).

Here we have no less than seventeen passages where
the translation exhibits a marked divergence from the
S. Pantaleo Latin text ; in five of which, moreover,
blunders (denudare for denudavit ; vita for iura ; Augustum
for angustum ; coartando for cohortando ; j?ro capacitate for
procacitate) in the latter are corrected in the translation.

1 So the later translation.

2 The later translation has i Latini.

3 The later translation has guardino avanti.

4 The later translation has alti c.

5 The later translation has instantemente.

6 The later translation has essendo verdi.

7 So the later translation.

8 The later translation has con malvagia sollecitudine.

9 The later translation has non c.

INDEX

I. Index Nominum (comprising names of persons, places, and works
mentioned or alluded to in the text of the Epistolae).

II. Index Verborum (comprising words, word-forms, or examples of

these, occurring in the present texts which are not registered
in the American Dante Society's Concordance of the Latin
Works of Dante).

III. Index of Quotations (consisting of references to passages quoted,

directly or indirectly, by Dante in the Epistolae from classical
or other authors, and from Scripture, together with a Table
giving the quotations in each of the Epistolae in the order in
which they occur).

IV. Bibliographical and General Index (covering the Introduction,

Notes, and Appendices, and including, under Divina
Commedia, a list of parallel passages in the Commedia and
Epistolae).

Nolc. — Throughout the Index the line references are to those on
the right-hand side of the texts of the Epistolae as printed in
the present edition (see Preface, pp. viii-ix).

I. INDEX NOMINUM

Note. — Cross references are indicated by printing the name
referred to in square brackets at the end of the article.

Names and references enclosed in square brackets in the body of
an article, e. g. [Guido de Romena], are those which occur in the
titles (not written by Dante) of Epist. ii, iv (iii), viii, ix. A single
square bracket after a name, e.g. Bacchus], indicates that the
person or place in question is alluded to only, not mentioned by
name, by Dante.

Abati, Ciolo degli], ix. 24 (qui-

dam Ciolus).
Aegyptii, v. 16.
Aegyptus, x. 109, 113.
Aeneas, vii. 68.
Agag, vii. 85, 88.
Agnus Dei, vii. 34. [Christus.]
Alagherii, Dantes. [Dantes.]
Alborum de Florentia, Pars, i.

tit. 8.
Alcides, vii. 92 ; magnanimus,

vii. 94.
Alcimus, viii. 49.
Alcithoe], iii (iv). 35.
Alexander [de Romena, ii. tit.~\,

i. tit. ; ii. i ; Palatinus, ii. 25.
Alpes, v. 81.
Alpha, x. 475. [Deus.]
Amalech, vii. 84, 85, 88.
Amata, vii. 115; mulier furiata,

vii. 132-3. [Florentia.]
Ambrosius, viii. 85.
Amos, vii.21 (A.filius). [Isaias.]
Amphitrite, vii. 45 ; Oceanus,

vii. 45, 48 ; viii. 138.
Angeli, viii. 28.
Animae, De Quantitate, x. 423.
Antistes, viii. 125. [Papa: Boni-

fazio VIII.]
Anubis, vii. 67. [Mercurius.]
Apenninus, vii. 12.

Apocalypsis. [lohannis Visio.~\
Apollo, x. 242 (bis), 446, 449 ;

Sol, iii (iv). 36; Hyperione

natus, iii (iv). 39 ; Delius,

vi. 40.
Apostolica Sedes, i. Ht. 3 ; viii.

19. [Ecclesia.]
Apostolus, x. 392, 410. [Paulus.]
Aprilis, vi. 145 (Kalendae A.).
Arcippe], iii (iv). 35.
Argi, v. 98.
Aristoteles], viii. 61 ; x. 71, 215,

227, 389 (Philosophus) ; viii.

61 (Praeceptor).
Arno. [Sarnus.]
Ars Poetica. \_Poetria.~\
Ascanius, vii. 76 (alter A.)

[Iohannes rex] ; Iulus, vii. 71.
Astraea, viii. 82 ; Virgo, vii. 17.
Atlas, vi. 60.
Augusta, vii*. tit., 20 ; vii**. tit.,

17 ; vii***. tit, 6. [Imperatrix.]
Augustalis, vi. 9 (solium A.)
Augustinus, viii. 86 ; x. 422.
Augustus 1 , vii. 11, 49; Octavia-

nus, v. 99.
Augustus 2 , v. 22, 36 ; vii. tit. } 59.

[Imperator.]
Aurora, v. 3.
Auster, x. 8.
Austri Regina. [Saba, Regina.]

1 See pp. 253, 254.

256

I. INDEX NOMINUM

Babylon, vii. 146; Confusio, vii.

8, 147.
Babylonii, vi. 36.
Bacchus], iii (iv). 36 (semen

Semeles).
Balaam, viii. 97.
Baptista], vii. 23 (Praecursor).

[Iohannes.]
Bartolomei, Enrico. [Susa,

Enrico di.]
Battifolle, Gherardesca di.

[Battifolle, G. de.]
Battifolle, G. de, vii*. tit. ; vii**.

tit. ; vii***. tit.
Beda, viii. 87.
Bergamo. [Pergamum.]
Bernardus, x. 422.
Boetius, x. 469.
Bonifazio VIII], viii. 125

(defunctus Antistes).
Bos evangelizans, vii. 50.

[Lucas.]
Brescia. [Brixia.]
Brixia, vii. 100.

Caesar, vii. 11, 47, 63 [Iulius] ;

v. 117, 122 [TiberiusJ ; vi. 96

[Federicus] ; v.23, 31 ; vi. 147 ;

vii*. 8, 19; vii***. 6, 23

[Henricus] ; v. 69, 117, 122

[Imperator].
Caesareus, x. tit. 2 (C. Princi-

patus). [Imperium.]
Calliopeus, iii (iv). 14 (sermo

C).
Cardinales] [viii. tit.~\ ; Ecclesiae

militantis primi praepositi

pili, viii. 32-3.
Caritas, viii. 79, 82.
Carthago, viii. 127.
Caucasus, vi. 60.
Causis, De, x. 290, 811.
Chremes, x. 165.
Christus, i. tit. 1 ; v. 120 ; vi.

135 ; viii. 17, 80, 134 ; x. 114,

393 ; Iesus Christus, viii. 53 ;

Lux nostra, v. 121; Agnus

Dei, vii. 34 ; Dei Filius, v.

114; Unigenitus Dei Filius,

vii. 52; Filius, viii. 12;

Crucifixus, viii. 33.
Cicero. [Tullius.]
Cino da Pistoja], iii (iv). tit.

(exulans Pistoriensis).
Cinyras, vii. 114-15.
Ciolo degli Abati], ix. 24 (qui-

dam Ciolus).
Clemens, v. 128 ; Petri successor,

v. 128-9 ; Alcimus, viii. 49.
Coelesti Hierarchia, De, x. 310.
Coelo, De, x. 389.
Colonna, Iacopo], viii. 120

(collega Ursi).
Colonna, Pietrol, viii. -120

(collega Ursi).
Comoedia (Dantis), x. 55, 88, 144,

168, 197, 198 ; Paradisus, x.

56, 171, 199, 221 ; Infernus, x.

170.
Consideraiione, De, x. 422.
Consolatione Philosophiae, De, x.

469.
Contemplatione, De, x. 421.
Corinthios, Epistola ad. [Epistola.\
Cremona, vii. 99.
Curio, vii. 63.

Damascenus, viii. 87.

Daniel, x. 426.

Dantes Alagherii, [ii. tit. 1]; v.

tit. ; vi. tit. ; vii. tit. ; ix. 19-20 ;

x. tit., 145 ; Dantes [iv (iii).

tit.~\ ; [viii. tit.~\ ; ix. 31 ; x.

199 ; Florentinus exul, iii (iv).

tit.
David, viii. 5 ; proles Isai, vii.

137.
Decretalistae]. [Innocentius :

Ostiensis 2 .]
De la Scala, Kanis Grandis.

[Kanis Grandis.]
Delia, vi. 39.
Delius, vi. 40. [Sol.]
Demetrius, viii. 49.
Deus, v. 50, 58, 86, 88, 91, 102,

104, 114, 127; vi. 15, 23, 34,

45, 48, 70, 137 ; vii. 1, 27, 34,

52, 128, 138 ; vii*. tit., 15 ;

I. INDEX NOMINUM

257

vii**. tit. ; vii***. tit, 19 ; viii.
7, 13, 26, 55, 58, 89 ; x. 26, 33,
269, 275, 285, 337, 356, 375,
380, 386, 397, 403, 412, 468,
474, 476 ; mundi Gubernator
aeternus, vii*. 18 ; aeternus
Rex, vi. 1 ; summus Rex,
vii***. 6 ; Pater, viii. 12 ;
Alpha et O, x. 475.

Diabolus], vii, 4-5 (antiquus
hostis).

Dionysius, viii. 87 ; x. 309.

Divina Commedia. \_Comocdia
Dantis.~\

Donati, Niccolo], ix. 9 (vester
meique nepos).

Donnti, Teruccio], ix [tit. (Ami-
cus Florentinus)] ; Pater, ix.
15, 29.

Ecclesia, i. tit. 6 ; v. 90 ; vii. 28 ;

Mater Ecclesia, viii. 75 ;

Ecclesia militans, viii. 121-2;

Sponsa Christi, viii. 39, 80,

134 ; Crucifixi Sponsa, viii.

33-4 ; Navicula Petri, vi. 10 ;

Apostolica Sedes, i. tit. 3 ; viii.

19, 131.
Ecclesiasticus, x. 322.
Enrico di Susa], viii. 88 (Ostien-

sis 2 ).
Ephesios, Epistola ad. [Epistola.~\
Epistola ad Corinthios, x. 410.
Epistola ad Ephesios, x. 393.
Eridanus, vii. 37 ; Padus, vii.

109.
Eihica, x. 210 ; morale negotium,

x. 210.
Europa, vii. 42.
Evangelium secundum Iohannem,

x. 467.
Evangelium secundum Matt/taeum,

x. 417.
Ezechiel, x. 396, 419 ; Propheta,

viii. 40.

Faesulani, vi. 123.
FedericodiSicilia], v. tit. (Italiae
rex).

Federicus prior, vi. 99.
Federicus secundus], vi. 96

(Caesar).
Filippo di Francia], viii. 49

(Demetrius).
Florentia, i. tit, 48 ; vii. 111 ;

[viii. tit~\ ; ix. 11, 33 ;

vulpecula, vii. 107 ; pernicies,

vii. 111; vipera, vii. 112;

languida pecus, vii. 113;

Myrrha, vii. 114 ; Amata, vii.

115 ; mulier furiata, vii.

132-3.
Florentini, vi. tit ; populus

Florentinus, i. 26 ; ix. 37 ;

Florentina gens, i. 32 ; Tusco-

rum vanissimi, vi. 103-4 ;

Faesulanorum propago, vi.

123 ; alteri Babylonii, vi. 36.
Florentinus, i. 26; ix. 37 (popu-

lus F.) ; i. 32 (F. gens) ; iii (iv).

tit. (F. exul) ; v. tit ; vi. tit ;

vii. tit ; x. tit, 145 (Dantes

Alagherii F.) ; vi. 38 (F.

civilitas) ; [ix. tit. (amicus F.)].
Fortuitorum Remedia, iii (iv). 42.

Gaetani, Francesco], viii. 124-5

(Transtiberinae sectator fa-

ctionis).
Gelboe, vi. 50.
Gentes, v. 124 ; viii. 19, 25.
Gentium Praedicator, viii. 19.

[Paulus.]
Gherardino da Filattiera], viii.

84 (Lunensis pontifex).
Ghibellini], vii. 142 (Israel).
Golias, vii. 139.
Gregorius, viii. 85.
[Guido de Romena, ii. tit.~\

Hannibal, viii. 108.
Hectoreus, v. 65 (H. pastor).

[Henricus.]
Helicon. x. 9 .
Henricus, v. 22 ; vi. 133 ; vii.

tit. ; Henricus Caesar, vi. 146-

7 ; vii***. 23 ; Caesar, v. 23, 31 ;

vii*. 8, 19; vii***. 6, 23;

258

I. INDEX NOMINUM

Augustus, v. 22, 36; vii. tit,
59 ; Titan pacificus, v. 8 ;
alius Moyses, v. 15 ; Sponsus
(Italiae), v. 21 ; Mundi sola-
tium, v. 21 ; novus agricola
Romanorum, v. 62 ; Hectoreus
pastor, v. 65 ; Rex (Italiae),
v. 75 ; Romanus princeps, vi.
22-3 ; Mundi rex, vi. 23 ; Dei
minister, vi. 23 ; delirantis
Hesperiae domitor, vi. 63-4 ;
Romanae rei baiulus, vi. 132 ;
triumphator, vi. 132 ; vii. tit. ;
dominus singularis, vii. tit.;
Romanorum rex, vii. tit. ;
Caesaris et*Augusti successor,
vii. 11 ; Sol noster, vii. 19 ;
praeses unicus Mundi, vii.
98-9; excellentissimusprinci-
pum, vii. 106 ; proles altera
Isai, vii. 137 ; Romanus
principatus, vii*. 21.

Hercules], vii. 92 (Alcides).

Hesperia, vi. 64. [Italia.]

Hier-. [Ier-.]

Hierarchia, De Coelesti, x. 310.

Horatius, x. 162, 177.

Hydra, vii. 90 ; pestilens animal,
vii. 93.

Hyperion, iii (iv). 39.

Iaeob, x. 110.

lacobus], x. 417 (discipulus).

Iacopo Colonna. [Colonna.]

Ieremias, viii. 21 ; x. 316 ; vir
propheticus, viii. 8.

Ierusalem, ii. 26 (superna I.) ;
vii. 145 ; viii. 9 ; x. 8 ; civitas
David, viii. 5.

IesusChristus,viii.53.[Christus.]

Imperator], v. 23, 31, 69, 117,
122; vi. 96, 147; vii. 11, 47,
63 ; vii*. 8, 19 ; vii***. 6, 23
(Caesar) ; v. 22, 36 ; vii. tit.,
59 (Augustus); v. 88; vi. 22-3
(Romanus princeps) ; vii*. 21
(Romanus principatus) ; vii*.
tit. (Magnificentia) ; vii. tit.
(dominus singularis) ; vii**.

14 (Princeps singularis) ; v.

65 (Hectoreus pastor).
Imperatrix], vii*. tit, 20 ; vii**.

tit., 17 ; vii***. tit., 6 (Augusta);

vii*. 8 (coniunx Caesaris) ;

viii***. 17 (Romanorum pia

et serena Maiestas).
Imperialis, vii***. tit. (I. in-

dulgentia).
Imperium, v. 76 ; vi. 3, 37 ; vii.

39, 48 ; vii*. 21 ; vii**. tit. ;

vii***. 21 ; Caesareus Princi-

patus, x. tit.
Infernus. [Comoedia Dantis.~\
Innocentius, viii. 88.
Inventione Rhetorica, De. [Rhetorica,

Nova.~]
Iohannem, Evangelium secundum.

[Evangelium.~]
Iohannes Baptista], vii. 23

(Praecursor).
Iohannes Evangelista, x. 467 ;

discipulus, x. 417.
Iohannes rex, vii. 74 ; alter

Ascanius, vii. 76.
Iohannis Visio, x. 476.
Iosue, vii. 21.
Isai, vii. 137 (proles altera L).

[Henricus.]
Isaias, vi. 136 ; Amos filius, vii.

21—2
Israel,'vii. 81, 83, 142; x. 109,

111, 112 ; domus Iacob, x.

109-10.
Itali, ii. 9 ; vi. 14 ; viii. 113,

116; Latini, viii. 141; incolae

Latiales, v. 75-6.
Italia, v. tit, 19; vi. 11, 147

vii. 42, 72, 149 : vii***. 23

viii. 135 ; Hesperia, vi. 64

Latium, vii. 15 ; Scipionum

patria, viii. 128.
[Italicus,viii.^.(CardinalesI.).]
Italus, v. tit
Iudaea, x. 110.
Iudaei, viii. 25.
Iudas, v. 14.

Iulius], vii. 11, 47, 63 (Caesar).
Iulus, vii. 71 ; Ascanius, vii. 76.

I. INDEX NOMINUM

259

Iunius, vii***. 22 (Kalendae I.).
Iuppiter, x. 325.
Iustitia. [Astraea.]

Ja-, Je-, Jo-, Ju-. [Ia-, Ie-,Io-,
Iu-.]

Kanis Grandis de la Scala, x. tit.
1-2; Magnificentia, x. 1, 459.

L., Frater, i. 36, 44.

Latialis, v. 76 (incolae L.)

[Itali] ; viii. 112 (L. caput)

[Roma].
Latini l , vii. 78.
Latini 2 , v. 40. [Romani.]
Latini 3 , viii. 141. [Itali.]
Latium, vii. 15. [Italia.]
Leucippe], iii (iv). 35.
Leucothoe, iii (iv). 38.
Levitae], viii. 4 (Levitica proles).
Leviticus, viii. 4 (L. proles).
Ligures, vii. 39.
Longobardi, v. 39.
Lucanus, x. 324.
Lucas Evangelista], vii. 50

(Bos evangelizans).
Lucifer, x. 395.
Lunensis, viii. 84 (L. pontifex).

[Grheravdino.]

Maius, vii. 149 (Kalendae M.).
[Malaspina, Moroellus, iv (iii).

tii.~\ ; Magnificentia, iv (iii). 5.
Marchia Tervisina, i. tit.
Margarita, vii*. tit. ; vii**. tit. ;

vii***. tit. ; Romanorum re-

gina, vii*. tit. ; vii**. tit. ;

vii***. tit. ; Romanorum

Maiestas, vii***,17; Augusta,

vii*. tit., 20; vii**. tit., 17;

\ii***. tit., 6; coniunxCaesaris,

vii*. 8 ; regiaBenignitas, vii*.

1 ; regia Celsitudo, vii**. 8 ;

vii***. 13 ; Culmen, vii**. 19 ;

Serenitas, vii***. 1 ; Subli-

mitas, vii***. 9.
Maria], vii. 54 (Virgo) ; viii. 13

(Mater et Virgo).

Maro, vii. 17. [Virgilius.]
Matthaeum, Evangelium secundum.

\_Evangelium. ]
Mediolanum, vi. 100 ; vii. 89.
Mercurius], vii. 67 (Anubis).
Meiamorphoseos], iii (iv). 32 (De

Rerum Transformatione).
Metaphysica, x. 71, 215, 284.
Moroellus Malaspina. [Mala-

spina.]
Moyses, v. 15; x. 113.
Myrrha, vii. 114. [Florentia.]

Nabuchodonosor, x. 426.
Napoleone Orsini. [Orsini.]
Naso, iii (iv). 32. [Ovidius.]
Nemesis. [Rhamnusia.]
Neri], vii. 142 (Philistaei).
Niccolo da Prato], i. tit. (Nicho-
laus) ; i. tit. (Ostiensis et
Vallatiensis episcopus) ; i. 2,
46 (Pietas) ; i. 12 (Paternitas).
Niccolo Donati. [Donati.]
Nicholaus. [Niccolo da Prato.]
Nova Rhetorica, x. 246.

O, x. 475. [Deus.]
[Obertus de Romena, ii. tit.~\
Oceanus, vii. 45, 48 ; viii. 138 ;

Amphitrite, vii. 45.
Octavianus, v. 99 ; Augustus, vii.

11, 49.
Orsini, Napoleone], viii. 120

(Ursus).
Ostiensis l , i. tit. (0. episcopus).

[Niccolo da Prato. ]
Ostiensis 2 , viii. 88. [Enrico di

Susa.]
Ovidius], iii (iv). 32 (Naso).
Oza, viii. 50, 63.

Padus, vii. 109 ; Eridanus, vii.

37.
Palatinus, ii. 25 (P. in Tu3cia) ;

vii*. tit. ; vii**. tit. ; vii***. tit.

(Comitissa in Tuscia P.).
Pallas, x. 9.
Papa], Antistes, viii. 125 ;

Apostolicum Culmen, viii.

s2

260

I. INDEX NOMINUM

123 ; Nauelerus navieulae

Petri, vi. 10 ; Pater patrum,

vii. 127-8; Petrus, v. 68, 127;

Successor Petri, v. 128-9 ;

Summus Pontifex, vii. 127.
Papia, vii. 101.
Paradisus, x. 258, 338, 387, 397,

399.
Puradisus. \Comoedia Daniis.~\
Parmenses, vi. 93.
Parnassus, x. 454.
Paulus, viii. 19; Apostolus, x.

392, 410; gentium praedicator,

viii. 19.
Pavia. [Papia.]
Peleus, x. 167.
Pergama, vi. 77.
Pergamum, vii. 103.
Petrus, v. 68, 127, 128 ; vi. 10 ;

viii. 15, 18 ; Dei vicarius, v.

127; discipulus, x. 417.
Phaeton, viii. 35 ; falsus auriga,

viii. 34-5.
Pharisaei, viii. 3, 59.
Philistaei, vii. 142.
Philistini, vii. 141.
Philosophiae, De Consolatione, x. 469.
Philosophus. [Aristoteles.]
Phryges, v. 98. [Troiani.]
Physica, x. 352.
Pietro Colonna. [Colonna.]
Pilatus, v. 121.
Pirenes, vi. 60.
Pistoja, Cino da. [Cino.]
Pistoriensis, iii (iv). tit. (exulans

P.).
Plato, x. 438.
Poctria, x. 162, 177.
Poppii castrum, vii***. 22.
Potestates, viii. 27.
Praeceptor. [Aristoteles.]
Praecursor. [Iohannes Bap-

tista.]
Praedicator, Gentium. [Paulus.]
Prato, Niccolo da. [Niccolo.]
Propheta. [Ezechiel.]
Psalmorum, Liber, x. 318.

Quantitate Animae, De, x. 423.

Remedia, Fortuitorum, iii (iv). 42.

Rerum Transformatione, De. [Meta-
morphoseos.\

Khamnusia, iii (iv). 41.

Rhetorica, x. 228.

Rhetorica, Nova, x. 246.

Richardus de Sancto Victore, x.
421-2.

Ftoberto di Napoli], v. tit. (Italiae
rex) ; vii. 131 (rex) ; vii. 139
(Golias).

Roma, vii. 120; viii. 16, 107,
135 ; alma urbs, v. tit. ; sacro-
sanctum ovile, viii. 16; Latiale
caput, viii. 112-13; sedes
Sponsae Christi, viii. 134.

Romani, v. 62 ; vi. 3 ; vii. iit. ,
41 ; vii*. tit. ; vii**. tit. ; vii***.
tit., 17 ; Latini, v. 40.

Romaniola, i. tit.

Romanus, ii. 24 (R. aula) ; v. 88 ;
vi. 22-3 (R. princeps) ; vi. 38
(R. civilitas) ; vi. 132 (R. res);
vii. 28 (R. gloria); vii. 72
(R. tellus) ; vii*. 21 (R. princi-
patus).

[Romena, Alexander de, ii. tit.~\

[Romena, Guido de, ii. tit.~\

[Romena, Obertus de, ii. tit.~\

Rutuli], vii. 77 (Turni).

Saba, Regina], x 8 (Austri

Regina).
Sabaoth, vii. 138.
Saguntum, vi. 91.
Samuel, vii. 80.
Sancto Victore, Richardus de,

x. 420-1.
Sapientiae, Liber, x. 30, 321.
Saraceni, v. 20 ; viii. 25.
Sarnus, iv (iii). 10 ; vi. 146 ;

vii. 110, 148.
Saturnius, vii. 16 (S. regna).
Saul], vii. 82-3 (rex super Israel) .
Scala, Kanis Grandis de la.

[Kanis Grandis.]
Scandinavia, v. 43.
Scipiones, viii. 128.

I. INDEX NOMINUM

261

Semele, iii (iv). 36.

Seneca, iii (iv). 43 ; x. 154.

Sirenes, v. 46.

Sol, iii (iv). 36 ; Hyperione

natus, iii (iv). 39 ; Titan, v.

8 ; vii. 14 ; Delius, vi. 40.

[Apollo.]
Speculum, viii. 88.
Spiritus Sanctus, viii. 8; x. 28-

9, 316 ; Spiritus, v. 115 ; viii.

81; Spiritus Dei, vi. 136-7;

Spiritus Domini, x. 321.
Spoletum, vi. 100.
Susa, Enrico di], viii. 88

(Ostiensis a ).

Tarpeius, vii. 12 (signa T.).
Telephus, x. 167.
Terentius, x. 157.
Teruccio Donati. [Donati.]
Tervisina, Marchia, i. tit.
Thessalia, v. 37, 38.
Tiberis, vii. 109 ; viii. 1 12.
Tiberius], v. 117, 122 (Caesar).
Titan, v. 8 ; vii. 14. [Sol.]
Transformatione, De Rerum. [Meta-
morphoseos.~]

Transtiberinus, viii. 124 (T.

factio).
Troiani, v. 40 ; Phryges, v. 98.
Troianus, vii. 47.
Tullius, x. 245, 248.
Turni, vii. 77. [Rutuli.]
Turnus], vii. 117 (gener).
Tuscani, ii. 14.

Tuscanus, vii. 59 (T. tyrannis).
Tusci, vi. 103 ; vii. tit.
Tuscia, i. tit. ; ii. 25; vi. 145 ; vii.

38, 148 ; vii*. tit. ; vii**. tit. ;

vii***. tit.

Ursus. [Orsini.]

Vallatrensis, i. tit. (V.episcopus).

[Niccolo da Prato.]
Vascones, viii. 140.
Vercelli, vii. 102.
Verona, x. tit., 9.
Vicentia, x. tit.
Victoria, vi. 97.
Virgilius], vii. 17 (Maro).
Virgo 1 , vii. 54; Mater et Virgo,

viii. 13. [Maria.]
Virgo 2 , vii. 17; Astraea, viii. 82.
Visio Iohannis, x. 476.

II. INDEX VERBOKUM

Note.
A.
M.

M. 1
M. 2
Me.

P.

V.

O.

om.

-In this Index :

(for Epist. x) Cod. Ambrosiano C. 145. Inf., at Milan.
(for Epist. vii) Cocl. Marc. Lat. xiv. 115, at Venice ; (for Epist. x)

Cod. Lat. 78, at Munich.
(for Epist. x) Cod. Magliabechiano vi. 164. A, at Florence.
(for Epist. x) Cod. Magliabechiano vi. 164. B, at Florence.
(for Epist. x) Cod. Mediceo, at Florence.

(for Epist. v, vii) Cod. S. Pantaleo 8, at Rome.

(for Epist. v, vii) Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729, at Rome ;

Epist. x) Cod. Capit. S14, at Verona.
Oxford Dante (third ed. 1904).
omit, omits.

(for

a, vii*. 12.

ab, vii*. 14 ; vii**. 20.

accumulat, vii**. 11.

aciem, vii*. 3.

ad, vii*. 7, 19 ; vii***. tit. 6, 8,

23; x. 111 (M.^M.20. oro.),

113 (M. ? 0. oro.), 115 (M. 2 0.

oro.), 116 (M. 2 0. oro.).
adeo, vii*. 4.
adesset, vii***. 13.
adiectus, viii. 86 (O. ab-).
adimitanda, viii. 38 (0. ad imi-

tandum).
adimplebat, vii***. 7.
adiuvalis, vii*. tit. 3-4.
adversum, vii. 128 (0. -us).
aereum, ii. 9 (MS. ereum; O.

heroum).
aestu, vii**. 20.
aeterna, x. 468 (M. 2 0. vera) ;

aeternus, vii*. 18.
aevi, vii*. 22.
aflfectus, vii*. 17.
agendi, vii. 131 (V.O. -da).
t agitur, viii. 101 (MS. 0. agit).

Alagherii, ii. tit. (MS. allagerij ;

O.Aligherius) ; v. tit. (P.Alegherij;

V. Alagerij ; O. Alighetius) ; vi.

tit. {0. Aligherius) ; vii. tit. (M.

Aldigherrj ; O. Aligherius) ; ix.

20 (MS. alla. ; O. Aligherius) ;

x. tit. 4 (A.M. Aligerius; M. 1

M 2 .Me.V. Allagherii; O. Ali-

gherius), 145 (M^.M.^V. Alla-

gherii ; O. Aligherii).
alienum, vii*. 14.
alii, viii. 108 (0. -is).
aliquam, x. 332 (O. aliquid), 332

(M 2 .Me.V. oro. ; O. aliquid) ;

aliquo, x. 332 (O. oro.).
aliquid, yii***. 14.
alludens, v. 46 (O. il-).
almae, vi. 29 (0. altissimae).
alpha, x. 475 (M.^M.^Me.O.

A).
amplexata, v. 113 (O. -atam).
amplior, vii**. 10.
fanimi, vii***. 3 (MS. ta) ;

animus, vii**. 4.

anno, vir

23.

1 See pp. 253, 254.

f Conjectural.

II. INDEX VERBORUM

263

ante, vii. tit. 6 (0. om.) ; vii*.

tit. 6 ; vii***. 1.
t antecedenter, ix. 30 (MS. aut. .;

0. aut).

Anubis, vii. 67 (M. Annubis; P.O.

a nubibus ; V. a wwMs).
apicem, vii*. 11.
f apostatae, viii. 27 (MS. apo-

testate ; O. ac potesiati).
apparitione, iv (iii). 13 (O. admi-

ratione).
apparuit, vii***. 1.
apprehensio, vii**. 8.
Apriles, vi. 145 (MS. -leis; 0. -lis).
arriserit, vii**. 5.
aspectum, vii***. 2.
assumpta, vii*. 2.
at, vii. 144 (0. ac) ; vii**. 9.
atque, vii. tit. 1 (O. om.) ; vii*. tit.

1, 16 ; vii**. tit. 1 ; vii***. tit. 1.
attendat, vii. 132 (M. accendit;

O. attendit).
audacias, v. 34 (O. -iis).
audeo, vii***. 8.
audiat, vii***. 16.
audientiam, vii***. 8.
Augustae, vii*. tit. 3, 20 ; vii**.

tit 3, 17 ; vii***. tit. 3, 6.
aula, vii*. 17.

Auroram,v.3 (V. om. ; O. albam).
auspitia, vii*. 19.

barbaras, vii*. 21.

Battifolle, vii*. tit. 3 ; vii**. tit.

3 ; vii***. tit. 3.
Benignitatis, i. 10 (O. ben-) ;

vii*. 1.

Caesaris, vii*. 8, 19 ; vii***. 6,

28.
tcaperent, iii (iv). 11 (MS.

carent; O. capiunt).
castro, vii***. 22.
t causa, viii. 1 19 (MS. cum ; O.

om.) ; causas, vii**. 11.
Celsitudini, vii***. 13 ; -dinis,

vii**. 8.

circa, x. 35 (M. contra; M.^M. 2

O. om.), 219 (M. x M. 2 Me.O.

om.).
cives, vii*. 22.
civilitati, vii**. 14 ; -tatis, vii*.

12.
clausurarum, vii***. 12.
clementia, vii**. 17.
clementissimae, vii*. tit. 1.
coadiutricis, vii*. 20.
coaequata, vii*. 19.
coelesti, vii**. 12 ; coelestis,

vii**. tit. 2.
coelum, x. 413 (O. Paradisum).
collaetentur, vii***. 4.
collocare, vii**. 19.
coluber, v.*72 (V. om. ;0. serpentis).
Comitissa, vii*. tit. 4 ; vii**. tit. 4 ;

vii***. tit. 4.
commaculat, vii. 114 (V.O. -ans).
commendare, vii**. 5.
t commiserans, v. 15 (P.V.O.

miserans).
commorantium, viii. 44 (MS.

commurancium ; O. commu-

tandum).
comoedia, x. 174 (O. om.).
comos, x. 147 (O. -us).
concepi, vii**. 4 ; vii***. 5.
concipientis, vii**. 4.
concipite, v. 60 (0. -cipiatis).
condescendat, vii*. 9.
condescensui, vii*. 18.
conditione, vii***. 14.
confectat, vii**. 11.
confidens, vii**. 12.
coniunx, vii*. 8 ; vii***. 18.
consequenter, x. 388 (O. -sonanter).
consortis, vii*. 7.
continebantur, vii***. 4.
t continua, ii. 18 (MS. O. -nuo).
cordis, vii***. 5.
cuiusque, vii**. 20.
Culminis, vii**. 19.
cum, vii***. tit. 5, 5.
cura, ii. 19 (0. cara).
cursus, vii**. 3 ; vii***. 23.

t Conjectural.

264

II. INDEX VERBORUM

de, vii*. 7 ; vii**. 2, 12, 14, 17 ;

vii***. 14, 22.
debent, vii*. 12.
debitae, vii*. tit. 5.
debitum, vii**. tit. 5.
debrja, vii**. 7.
decorus, x. 397 (0. perfectus).
decuit, vii*. 3.
dedecuit, vii*. 11.
t degradati, viii. 120 (MS. de-

grattati ; O. degratiati).
Dei, vii*. tit. 3 ; vii**. tit. 4 ; vii***.

tit. 4, 19 ; Deum, vii*. 15.
delirantis, vii*. 22.
deposco, vii**. 18 ; vii***. 10.
devotae, vii*. tit. 5.
devote, vii**. 2 ; vii***. 10.
devotionis, vii*. 5.
devotissima, vii**. tit. 3.
dextera, vii***. 5 ; -am, vii*. 20.
diceremus, x. 383 (M.^M.^Me.

0. dicerem).
dicit, x. 71 (M.O. dixit).
dicitur, x. 174 (0. om.).
dignas, vii*. 13.

dignemini, vii**. 20 ; vii***. 10.
dignitas, vii*. 10.
diurnis, iv (iii). 15 (O. divinis).
diuturna, vii*. 8.
divina, vii*. tit. 2 ; vii***. tit. 2.
documenta, vii**. 1.
dominae, vii*. tit. 1 ; vii**. tit.

1 ; vii***. tit. 1.
dominantis, iv (iii). 2 (O. -antur).
dominorum, vii***. 3 ; Dominus,

vii. 83 (V.M.O. Deus).
dono, vii***. 19.
dubito, vii**. 13.
dulcescerent, vii*. 4.
duxit, v. 117 (P. iussit ; O. dixif).

ea, vii**. 1; vii***. 4; x. 252
(O. ex iis) ; ei, v. 70 (V. om. ;
O. eius) ; eius, iv (iii). 19 (MS.
enim ; O. ei).

eclipsis, viii. 119 (O. -eos).

ego, vii*. 7 ; yii***. 19.

elogiis, vi. 7 (O. eloquiis).

emanare, vii*. 13.

enarrandum, vii*. 7.

enim, vii**. 6.

epistola, vii*. 1 ; -ae, vii**. 1.

equidem, vii**. 12.

ergo, vii***. 8.

eructuavit, iii (iv). 1 (O. -tavit).

esse, vii*. 14 ; vii**. 21 ; x. 296

(M. 2 es£; M.H). om.).
essentiam, x. 332 (0. om.).
est, v. 98 (0. om.) ; vii*. 14 ;

vii***. 2 ; x. 198 (O. erit).
et, v. 126 (O. ac) ; vii. tit. 3 (0.

om.) ; ix. 2 (O. ex) ; x. tit. 2

(O. om.), 134 (0. aut).
etiam, vii*. 11.
ex,x. 12 (M.^M.^Me.V.O. om.).
exempla, vii*. 12.
exhibere, vii**. tit. 6.
exorans, vii***. 9.
exorare, vii*. 15.
exordia, vii**. 15.
experta, vii***. 2, 7.
explicare, vii**. 9.
ex quo, vii***. 17.
extendat, vii*. 20.
extimetis, viii. 91 (0. aest-).
exultans, vii**. 17.

facies, vii***. 15.
facilis, iii (iv). 30 (O. -e).

facultas, \\i*

VS.

falli, vii**. 13.

familiam, vii*. 23.

familiariter, vii**. 3.

famulatum, vii***. tit. 6.

faustissimi, vii***. 22.

felicia, vii**. 15.

felicissimi, vii**. 3; -issimo, vii.

tit. (0. sanctissimo).
feliciter, v ii***. 6.
fervore, vii*. 4.
fidei, vii***. 11.
fidelissima, vii***. tit. 3.
fidelitas,vii***.2 ; -tatis,vii***.7.
fidelium, vii***. 4.

t Conjectural.

II. INDEX VERBORUM

265

flexis, vii**. tit. 5.

Florentino, ix. 37 (0. Floren-

tinaeque) .
fonte, vi. 146 (O. -em) ; vii. 148

(O. -em) ; vii*. 12.
forma, iv (iii). 12 (O. foriunae).
fortissima, vii*. 8.
fuerint, vii**. 10.
fuit, vii*. 2.
futuris, vii**. 16.

gaudentes, vii***. 20.
gaudio, vii*. 6.
genibus, vii**. tit. 5.
gloria, vii*. 23.
gloriosa, vii. 41 (O. om.).
gloriosissimae, vii*. tit. 1 ; -mo,

vii. tit. 1 (O. om.).
gradum, vii***. 7 ; -uum, vii*. 11.
grata, vii**. 10.
grates, vii*. 13.
gratia, vii*. tit. 4 ; vii**. tit. 4 ;

vii***. tit. 4 ; gratiae, vii*. 20 ;

x. 66 (0. gloriae).
gratiosa, ix. 19 (0. gloriosa).
gratissima, vii*. 1.
gratuita, vii**. 1.
f gratuitas, iv (iii). 2 (MS. gratui-

tatis; O. gratitudinis).
gratulantis, vii*. 10 ; vii***. 2.
gubernator, vii*. 18.

ha, vi. 103 (O. ah).

haec, viii. 61 (O. hoc) ; hoc, viii.

95 (O. hi).
haesitatione, vii**. 17.
Helicona, x. 9 (M.W.O. -am).
Henrici, vii*. 23 ; vii***. 23.
hilaritate, vii***. 5.
hinc, viii. 44 (O. haec).
hominis, vii*. 14 ; -ine, vii*. 14.
honoris, vii*. 9.
hortari, vii***. 12.
huius, iii (iv). 17(0. om.); iv(iii).

16 (O. ' eius) ; x. 4 (M.W

Me.V.O. hoc).
huiusmodi, vii. 103 ( V.O. huius).

humanae, vii**. 14 ; -orum, vii*.

11.
humilitas, vii**. 8.
humiliter, vii**. tit. 5.

iam, vii***. 8, 21.

ideo, vii*. 16.

illam, vii*. 3 ; illis, x. 21 (A.M.

illas ; 0. om.).
illiciendo, vii. 124 (M. ali- ; 0.

alli-).
illustrissimae, vii***. tit. 1.
imperialis, vii***. tit. 4.
imperii, vii**. tii. 4 ; vii***. 21 ;

-erio, vii*. 21.
impetivit, vii. 95 (0. imped-).
impetret, vii*. 17.
impie, vii. 7 (V. -os ; O. -us).
in, v. 48 (V.O. om.) ; vii*. tit. 4,

22, 24 ; vii**. iit, 4, 15, 16 ;

vii***. tit. 4, 3, 5; viii. 53

(MS. 0. om.).
incaluit, vii*. 5.
inclinari, vii*. 11.
incolumes, vii***. 19.
inde, viii. 44 (0. ad).
indulgentiae, vii***. tit. 4.
ineffabiliter, vii**. 10.
inferioribus, vii*. 13.
inficit, viii. 65 (O. -iet).
in invicem, vi. 94-5 (O. invicem).
inire, vii***. 8.
initis, v. 35 (0. -iis).
innectit, vii. 133 (O. -at).
insinuata, vii**. 9.
insperatae, v. 74 (P. insperare ;

V. erate ; O. speratae).
insufticientiae, vii*. 15.
intellecta, v. 92 (P. reUitta ; O.

intellectu).
intellexi, vii**. 2.
intentum, sb. iii (iv). 16 (O.part.).
interdicat, vii***. 15.
interdum, vii***. 11.
interrogatum, viii. 15 (O. -ato).
intimata, vii**. 4.
intueri, vii***. 10.

f Conjectural.

266

II. INDEX VERBORUM

intuitu, vii**. iit. 2.

inventum, x. 211 (O. incoeptum).

f invidiam, x. 66 (A.M.O.

nostram ; M.^Me.V. vitam).
ipsa, vii**. 7 ; vii***. 5 ; viii.

21 (MS. ipso ; O. ipsum) ; ipsam,

vii***. tit. 6.
ista, x. 221 (Me.O. om.); istis,

x. 390 (0. suis).
Italiam, vii***. 23.
itaque, vii*. 13 ; vii**. 7.
ita quod, x. 371 (V. itaque ; 0. eo

quod), 376 (V. itaque ; 0. eo

quod), 379 (0. itaque).
iubet, vii***. 17.
iucunda, vii**. 10.
Iunias, vii***. 22.
iusta, vii**. 11 ; -is, vii*. 16.

kalendas, vii***. 22.

laetandi, vii**. 11.

laetanter, vii*. 2.

laetiores, vii***. 20.

largiente, vii**. tit. 4.

Latiales, v. 76 (V.om. ; O.Italiae).

lectitantis, vii*. 4 (MS. leti-).

libens, vii**. 4.

liberorum, vii***. 19.

literas, vii**. 9.

lugenda, viii. 21 (0. -do).

Magnificentiae, vii*. tit. 4.
maiestas, vii***. 17.
manibus, vii*. 2.
Marchia, i. tit. 4 (0. Maritima).
Margaritae, vii*. tit. 2 ; vii**.

tit. 1-2 ; vii***. tit. 1-2.
me, vii. 33 (O. te) ; vii**. 18 ;

mihi, vii*. 7.
mea, vii***. 2 ; meae, vii***. 7 ;

f meas, viii. 16 (MS. O. om.) ;

mei, vii***. 14 ; meis, vii*. 1 .
mecum, v. 111 (O. nobis-).
meliora, vii***. 21 ; -ori, vii**. 6.
melius, vii*. 24 ; vii**. 15.
memorare, vii*. 6.

memoria, vii*. 6.

mens, vii**. 7 ; mentis, vii*. 3 ;

vii***. 10.
mentales, viii. 110 (0. mor-).
merita, vii*. 10.
miserationis, vii**. tit. 2.
missionis, vii***. 18.
missum, vii***. 22.
mores, x. 35 (M.^M.^V.O. om.).
f moriatur, vi. 143 (MS. riuantur ;

O. revertatur).
mortalium, vii*. 22.
mundi, vii*. 18.
mussant, viii. 93 (MS. musant ;

O. om.).

nam, vii*. 6 ; vii***. 4.
namque, iii (iv). 22 (O. enim).
nationes, vii*. 21.
nec, vii*. 6, 10.

negligentem, iv(iii). 4 (O. -ter).
nequaquam, vii. 54 (O. nun-).
neque, vii*. 9 (MS. atque), 10.
non, v. 58 (O. neve) ; vii*. 14 ;

vii**. 6, 9, 13 ; viii. 89 (O.

enim) ; x. 279 (O. vel).
nonnulla, vii***. 12.
nos, x. 36 (O. eos).
nunc, vii*. 16 ; viii. 132 (0. om.) ;

x. 216 (O. tunc).
nunquam, vii*. 5 ; vii**. 13.
nuntio, vii**. 6 ; -orum, vii***.

13.

fobcaecati, vi. 57 (MS. O.

caecati).
obediam, vii***. 16.
obedientiae, vii***. 16.
oblivia, vii*. 5 (MS. oblia).
obsequia, vii***. tit. 6.
oculis, vii*. 1 ; vii***. 10.
officium, vii*. tit. 5-6 ; vii***. 8.
opis, vii*. 14.

oportet, viii. 111 (O. omnes).
oraculi, iv (iii).^ 5 (O. oraiiun-

culae).
orat, x. tit. 5 (O. optat).

f Conjectural.

II. INDEX VERBORUM

267

ortu, v. 3 (V.O. ora.).

osculum (ante), vii. tit. (0. oscu-

lantur).
f oves, viii. 16 (MS. O. ora.).

pace, vi. 112 (0. -em).

pagina, vii***. 1.

Paiatina, vii*. tit. 5 ; vii**. tit. 5 ;

vii***. tit. 5.
pars, x. 212 (O. ora.) ; parte, x.

12 (M.^M.^Me.V.O. ora.).
patet, x. 174 (0. ora. ).
pedes, vii*. tit. 6.
Peleus, x. 167 (O. ora.).
penetrando, vii*. 4.
per, vii 93 (O. in) ; vii*. 3 ; vii**.

9 ; vii***. 4.
peregrinante, viii. 136 (O.

-antium).
perfectione, x. 394 (O. decore).
pernoctitavimus, v. 7 (P. -nota- ;

V. -notita- ; O. -nocta-).
peroptando, vii***. 14.
f perpetuo, viii. 121 (M. populo ;

O. propter te).
persolvere, vii*. 13.
personas, x. 22 (O. -is).
petentis, vii***. 8.
petiit, i. 26 (O. petit).
pia, vii***. 17 ; piis, vii*. 17.
Pietate, i. 2 (O.pi-) ; -tati (0. pi-),

i. 46.
piissimae, vii**. tit. 1 ; vii***.

tit. 1.
placet, vii**. 5.
plus quam, x. 50 (M.^Me.V.O.

ora.).
poenitudinem, viii. 103 (O.

-tentiam).
Poetria, x. 162 (M.^M.^V.O.
Poetica), 177 (M.^M.^V.O.
Poetica).
polluxit, i. 19 (O. pollicetur).
polysemos, x. 104 (M. 1 -sensuum ;

V. -sensum ; O. -semum).
pondus, vii*. 9.
Poppii, vii***. 22.

posse, vii**. 13.

posset, x. 204 (O. potest).

possint, vii*. 5.

postulabat, vii*. 10.

potest, vii**. 9.

t Potestates, viii. 27 (MS.

potentes ; O. ora.).
potius, vii**. 5.
potui, vii**. 1.
prae, i. 16 (O. pro).
praecedentia, v. 111 (O. pro-

cedendo).
praeconicis, vii. 99 (P. -conijcis ;

V. -coniis ; O. -conizabis).
praedilectus, vii***. 18.
praelibatae, vii***. 11.
praemia, vii*. 19.
praemiandi, x. 133 (O. -anti),

187 (O. -anti), 190 (O. -anti).
praeoptatus, vii. 14 (M. precipi- ;

O. perop-).
praeparari, v. 73 (0. esse paratam).
praepediri, vii**. 13.
praesentibus, vii**.16; -entium,

vii***. 18.
praesumptionis, vii***. 15.
praesumptum, x. 44 (V.O.

-uosum).
tpraeviatio, x. 231 (M.^M. 2
praeiuratio ; V. deuiatio ; Me.O.
praenunciatio) .
precibus, vii*. 16.
precor, v ii***. 9.
primo, vii***. 23 ; -us, x. 1 05

(O. alius).
principatus, vii*. 21.
principe, vii**. 14.
pro, vii*. 15.
procedent, vii**. 16.
proinde, vii***. 7.
promittebant, vii***. 21.
promptissima, vii***. tit. 5.
propterea quod, x. 81 (M. 1
propter quodque ; O. propterea
quodque).
prosperata, vii**. 15.
prosperitate, vii**. 2.

t Conjectural.

268

II. INDEX VERBORUM

providentia, vii*. tit. 2 ; vii***.

tit. 2.
providit, vii**. 14,
provisione, vii**. 12.
pulsetur, vii*. 17.
tpunctali, viii. 6 (MS. puctalis;

O. provecta).
puniendi, x. 134 (O. -enti), 187

(O. -enti).
punita, vi. 124 (O. Punica).
pura, vii***. 2.
puritatem, vii***. 11.

quae, vii. 113 (V.6. om.) ;

vii**. 8, 14 ; vii***. 4 ; viii.

81 (O. quos), 93 (O. qui) ; quam,

iii (iv). 1 (O. quem) ; vii**. 13.
quaedam, vii***. 15.
qualem, ix. 6 (O. -iter) ; qualis,

vii*. 7.
qualiter, vii***. 5.
quam, adv., vi. 104 (0. quantum) ;

vii*. tit. 5 ; vii***. 3.
quamvis, vii**. 9 ; vii***. 15 ; x.

119 (M.VM. 2 quomodo; Me.

quoniam ; O. quamquam).
quando, vii. 37 (O. quoniam).
quandoque, vii*. 15.
quanta, vii*. 6.
quanto, adv. f vii**. 4 ; vii***.

20.
quare, x. 174 (O. om.).
quasi, vii**. 7.
quatenus, vii*. 17 ; vii**. 18 ;

vii***. 10.
-que, ix. 31 (O. atque).
qui, vii*. 21 ; viii. 96 (O. quique),

132 (MS. quod; O. om.) ; x.

252 (Me.V.O. om.).
quia, v. 49 (0. quod) ; vii***.

11 ; viii. 96 (O. om.).
quippe, vii*. 9.
quod, conj., vii**. 15 ; viii. 24

(MS. O. om.), 26 (O. om.).
quod, pr., v. 45 (O. quantum) ; x.

219 (M.^M.^Me.O. om.).

quoniam, vii***. 17.

f quum, iii (iv). 9 (MS. 0. quam);

quum, vii. 33 (O. et) ; vii*. 3 ;

vii**. 2 ; vii***. 1.

recepi, vii**. 2.

recipit, x. 287 (M.^M^O. rece-).

recommendatione, vii***. tit. 5.

recumbat, vii. 108 (V.O. de-).

recurro, vii**. 18.

referrem, vii***. 14.

reformari, iii (iv). 18 (0. -ati).

reformet, vii*. 23.

regalis, vii**. 1 ; -alium, vii***.

12.
regiae, vii*. 1 ; vii**. 8 ; vii***.

13.
reginae, vii*. tit. 2 ; vii**. tit. 2 ;

vii***. tit. 2.
regis, vii***. 6.
regni, vii*. 16 ; vii**. 15.
reor, vii*. 15.
f repercutientis, x. 289 (M. l M. 2

Me.V. respici- ; O. respu-).
resurgentis, vii***. 21.
retribuat, vii*. 19.
reverenter, vii*. 2.
reverentiae, vii**. tit. 5.
risibile, x. 384 (M.^M. 2 visibile ;

V.O. risibilis).
Romani, vii*. 21 ; -orum, vii*.

tit. 2 ; vii**. tit. 2 ; vii***. tit.

2,17.

saecula, vii***. 21.

sanctae, vii*. 12.

Scala, de la, x. tit. ^(M.^M^V.O.

Scala, de).
scelestis, vii. 114 (0. -esta).
scientius, x. 315 (O. -entia).
t scilicet, viii. 16 (MS. O. om.).
scintillula, v. 97 (V. om. ; O.

favilla).
scribentis, vii**. 8 ; vii***. 1.
se, vii***. iit. 6; sibi, x. 380

(0. illi), 380 (O. illi).
secura, vii**. 21.

t Conjectural.

II. INDEX VERBORUM

269

sed, v. 70 (V. om. ; 0. vero) ; vii*.

10; vii**. 2; x. 15 (M.*M. 2

secundum ; O. sic).
semel, x. 50 (O. om.).
semper, vii*. tit. 3 ; vii**. tit. 3,

15, 20 ; vii***. tit. 3.
seorsum, x. 98 (M x .O. -im).
serena, vii***. 17.
serenissimae, vii**. tit. 1.
Serenitatis, vii***. 1.
si, x. 212 (O. etsi).
sic, vii**. 16; x. 173 (O. om.).
siderii, vii*. 16.

signa, vir

20.

significando, vii**. 6.

significata, vii*. 3.

silentio, vii**. 5.

sim, vii**. 20.

simpliciter, v. 93 (O. simil-).

simul, vii**. 11.

sine, vij*. 6 ; vii**. 17.

singulari, vii**. 14.

sinistrationis, vii**. 20.

sint, vi. 97 (O. sunt).

si quando, vii***. 12-13.

solito,

'. 20.

sospitate, vii*. 7 ; vii***. 19.

spero, vii**. 12.

spes, vii**. 10.

spiritus, vii*. 4.

status, vii***. 14.

Bua, vii*. 8 ; vii**. tit. 3 ; vii***.

tit. 3; sui, vii*. 23; x. 363

(Me.V.O. eius).
suadente, vii***. 16.
sub, vii*. 23 ; vii**. 19.
subditorum, vii***. 3.
subegit, vii*. 22.
subiectionis, vii*. tit. 5.
subiectum, ii. 7 (O. -ditum).
subito, i. 14 (O. om.).
Sublimitatis, vii***. 9.
successibus, vii***. 3 ; -cessuum,

vii**. 3.
sufficiunt, vii**. 6.
summi, vii***. 6.
sunt, viii. 132 (O. om.).

superare, vii*. 5.

superatur, vii**. 7.

t superest, iii (iv). 34 (MS. super ;

O. sedulus).
supinatur, v. 72 (V. suppi ;

O. torquetur).
suppleat, vii**. 7.
supplemento, vii*. 15.
supplicantis, vii*. 17.
suppliciter, vii**. 18 ; vii***. 9.
susurrio, vi. 111 (O. -urro).
syllogizantis, v. 113 (V. silogiza ;

O. -zatoris).

taliter, vii**. 19.

tam, vii*. tit. 5.

tamen, vii**. 10 ; vii***. 16.

tamquam, vii**. 5.

tanti, vii*. 9 ; tanto, vii*. 18 ;

vii***. 20.
f tantum, adv., viii. 119 (MS.

causam ; O. causa) ; tantum,

ix. 24 (0. terreni).
Telephus, x. 167 (O. om.).
tempestiva, vii**. 18.
templo, viii. 42 (O. -plis).
tempore, vii***. 18.
tenemur, x. 39 (0. -entur).
tertium, x. 413 (O. om.).
Tervisina, i. tit. 5 (O. terris).
tollit, vii. 42 (P. -is ; 0. dbstulit).
tota, vii***. 5 ; totius, x. 88

(O. om.).
tragos, x. 153 (0. -us).
triumphis, vii*. 23.
Tuscia, vii*. tit. 4 ; vii**. tit. 4 ;

vii***. tii. 5.
tutamenta, vii*. 22.
tutissima, vii**. 19.

ubi, vii**. 7.

ulla, vii**. 17.

umbra, vii**. 19.

unde, vii*. 12.

unius, iii (iv). 22 (O. eius), 25

(O. eius).
usque, viii. 131 (O. usserit).

f Conjectural.

270

II. INDEX VERBORUM

ut, v. 72 (V. om. ; O. modo) ; vii*.

2, 5, 20 ; vii**. 20 ; vii***. 12 ;

x. 79 (0. sicut).
utinam, vii*. 8.

vana, x. 36 (M.^M.^V.O. om.).
vel, vii*. 6 ; vii**. 13 ; x. 297

(O. om.).
velut, vii*. 12.
veneratione, vii**. 2.
verba, vii**. 6.

verum, adv., vii*. 14 ; vii***. 11.
fvestra, i. 29 (MS. O. nostra) ;

vestrae, vii***. 1, 9 ; vestri,

vii**. 3, 15, 19 ; f vestrum,

viii. 114 (MS. -tra ; O. -tras).
viam, vii. 83 (V.O. via).
Vicentiae, x. tit. 3 (M.^M.^Me.O.

-entia ; V. -entina) .
victoriosissimo, x. tit. 1 (M.M 1 .

M. 2 Me.V.O. -oso).
videar,vii**.21 ; x. 65 (A.M.V.O.

-ebar; M. J Me. mihi videbatur).

videatur, x. 28 (A.M. -eret; 0.

•eretur).
videbatur, vii***. 12.
videlicet, v. 112 (O. videns).
vigebamus, vii***. 19.
f vinctus, ix. 25 (MS. O. vic-).
virtute, vii***. 16 ; -tem, ii. 23

(O. -tes) ; Virtutibus, ii. 24 (O.

vir-).
virulente, vii. 97 (V.O. -ter).
visa, vii*. 2.

vita, x. 467 (M. 2 0. beatitudo).
vivo, vii*. 12.
volitando, x. 2 (M.^M.^V.

-anter ; Me.O. -ans).
voluntarium, vii***. iit. 6.
voluptuosius, v. 70 (V. om. ;

O. Ubentius).
fvos, viii. 100 (MS. O. om.).
vota, vii**. 11 ; vii***. 6.

XV, vii. 148 (M. xv° ; P. xv* ; O.
xiv) ; vii***. 22.

f Conjectural.

III. INDEX OP QUOTATIONS

Note. — In this Index, and accompanying Table, I have checked,
and in many cases supplemented, my own references by those of
Dr. Moore's Tables in his Studies in Dante, i. 391-4. On the other
hand, I have been able to make a certain number of additions to
his list. Dr. Moore classified his roferences under three heads, in
order to distinguish between direct quotations, (a) acknowledged,
(b) unacknowledged, and (c) presumed imitations, adaptations, or
allusions, more or less remote (op. cit. pp. 45-6). I have not thought
it necessary to mark these distinctions in the present Index.

Academicae Quaestiones~\, x. 34-5

(Acad. ii. 26).
* Acius Apostolorum], v. 52 (Act ix.

5) ; vi. 61 (Act. vii. 42).
Actus B. Silvestri~}, v. 31 (cf. Mon.

ii. 5, 11. 40-2).'
Aeneis, i. 30-4 (Aen. i. 600-5; ii.

536-8) ; ii. 6 (Aen. i. 605) ;

v. 4-5 (Aen. iii. 530) ; v. 13-14

(Aen. x. 723, 726) ; v. 79 (Aen.

i. 613); v. 97-100 (Aen. i.

372-3) ; vi. 77 (Aen. iv. 344 ;

vii. 322 ; x. 58) ; vi. 84 (Aen.

x. 843) ; vi. 94 (Aen. vi. 276) ;

vi. 95 (Aen. ii. 353) ; vii. 36

(Aen. ii. 373-4) ; vii. 47-8 (Aen.

i. 286-7) ; vii. 67-73 (Aen. iv.

272-6) ; vii. 115-19 (Aen. xii.

593-607); vii. 137 (Aen. iv.

569) ; vii*. 13-14 (Aen. i.

600-1) ; vii*. 19 (Aen. i. 603-

5) ; x . 2 (Aen. vii. 104 ; ix. 473-

4 ; iv. 182) ; x. 289 (Aen. viii.

23).
Amos, Prophetia], v. 27-8 (Amos

vi. 13).
Anima,De], x. 34-5 (Anim. iii. 3).
Animae, De Quantitate. [Quantitate

Animae, De.]

Animalium, De Partibus. [Partibus
Animalium^ De.]

Apocalypsis. [Iohannis Vino.]

Aristoteles. \_Anima, De : Coelo,
De : Ethica : Generatione et Cor-
ruptione, De : Metaphysica :
Partibus Animalium, De: Physica:
Politica : Rhetorica.~\

Ars Poetica. \_Poetria. ]

Augustinus. [Quantitate Animae,
De.~\

Beniamin Maior. [Contemplatione-

De.~\
Bernardus. [Consideratione, De.~\
Boetius. [Consolatione Philo-

sophiae, De.\
Breviarium Romanum], i. 1.
Bucolica], vii. 16-17 (Ecl. iv. 6).

Calliopeus, Sermo. [Sonetio.]
Canzone: 'Amor, dacche con-

vien'], iv(iii). 28-9.
Canzoniere di Dante. [Canzone :

Sonetto.]
Causis, De, x. 290-2 (Prop. i, init.) ;

x. 311-12 (Prop. x, init).
Chronicles. [Paralipomenon, Libri.\

~ See pp. 253, 254.

n%

III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS

Cicero. [Academicae Quaestiones :
Finibus, De : Nova Bhetorica.~]

Coelesti Hierarchia, De, x. 307-10

. (Coel. Hier. iii. 2).

Coelo, De, x. 389-91 (Coel. i. 2).

Comoedia Dantis, x. 223-4 (Par. i.
37), 242-3 (Par. i. 13), 268-70
(Par. i. 1-3), 328-9 (Par. i. 2),
337-8 (Par. i. 4-5), 386 (Par. i.
4), 401 (Par. i. 5-6), 402-4
(Par. i. 8-9), 433-4 (Par. i. 6),
442-4 (Par. i. 10-12), 446 (Par.
i. 13), 450-1 (Par. i. 22), 454
(Par. i. 16).

Consideratione, De, x. 421-2 {Consid.
v. 2).

Consolatione Philosophiae, De, x.
469-70 (Cows. PM. iii. met. 9).

Contemplatione, De, x. 420-1 (Ccm-
terapZ. iv. 23).

Corinihios, Epistolae ad. [Epistolae.]

Danielis, Prophetia, x. 426-8 (Dan.

ii. 3).
Dantes. [Cansone : Comoedia :

Sonetto.]
Deuteronomii, Liber], v. 17 (Deut.

vi. 3) ; vi. 17 (Deut. xxxii. 35) ;

vi. 61 (Deut. xvii. 3).
Dionysius. [Coelesti Hierarchia,

De.]
Divina Commedia. [Comocdia

Dantis.]
Durandus, Wilhelmus.] [Specu-

lum.]

Ecclesiastici, Liber, x. 322-3 (Eccl.

xlii. 16).
Eclogae. [Bucolica.]
Epistolae ad Corinthios, v. 1 (2 Cor.

vi. 2) ; v. 58 (2 Cor. vi. 1) ; vi.

129 (2 Cor. vii. 9-10) ; viii. 53

(1 Cor. xv. 9) ; viii. 55-6 (1 Cor.

xv. 10) ; viii. 99 (2 Cor. xii.

11) ; x. 410-14 (2 Cor. xii. 3-4).
EpistolaadEphesios,\. 54-5 (Ephes.

vi.17); v.l23-5(Ephes. iv. 17) ;

viii. 27 (Ephes. vi. 11-12) ; x.

393-4 (Ephes. iv. 10).

Epistola ad Galatas], ii. 3 (Gal. iv.

29).
Epistola ad Hebraeos], viii. 36 (Heb.

xi. 13) ; viii. 136 (Heb. xi. 13).
Epistola ad Bomanos], ii. 3 (Bom.

viii. 4) ; v. 49-50 (Bom. xiii.

2) ; v. 54 (Bom. xiii. 11) ; v.

91-2 (Bom. i. 20) ; vi. 113

(Bom. vii. 23); vii. 128-9

(Bom. xiii. 2) ; vii. 134-5

(Bom. i. 28) ; vii. 138 (Bom.

ix. 29) ; viii. 19 (Bom. xi. 13).
Epistolae ad Timotheum], viii. 19

(1 Tim. ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 11).
Epistolae Petri\ v. 102 (2 Pet. iii.

18); v. 127-8(1 Pe^.ii. 17); vi.

26 (1 Pet. ii. 18) ; vii. 3-4 (1 Pel.

v. 8) ; viii. 131-2 (2 Pet. iii. 7).
Ethica], viii. 62-3 (Eth. i. 6) ; x.

20-2 (Eth. viii. 8 ; viii. 2, 3) ;

x. 25 (Eth. viii. 6) ; x. 48-9

(Eth. ix. 1) ; x. 211 (Eth. i. 3).
Evangelium secundum Iohannem,

iii (iv). 45-6 (Ioh. xv. 19) ; v.

121-3 (loh. xix. 10-11) ; vii.

1-2 (Ioh. xiv. 27); vii. 34-5

(Ioh. i. 29) ; vii. 52 (loh. iii.

16-18) ; viii. 15-16 (Ioh. xxi.

15-17) ; viii. 42-3, 45 (Ioh. ii.

14-15) ; viii. 58-60 (Ioh.ix. 1-

41) ; viii. 81 (Ioh. iii. 5) ; x.

467-8 (Ioh. xvii. 3).
Evangelium secundum Lucam], v.

21 (Luc. ii. 82) ; v. 53-4 (Luc.

xxi. 28); vii. 23-4 (Luc. vii.

19) ; vii. 33 (Luc. i. 47) ; vii.

49-51 (Luc. ii. 1) ; vii. 53 (Luc.

ii. 3, 5) ; viii. 67-8 (Luc. viii.

22-5); viii. 139 (Luc. xix. 38);

x. 8, 10-13 (Luc. xi. 31).
Evangelium secundum Marcum],

viii. 67-8 (Marc. iv. 36-9).
Evangelium secundum Matthaeum,

v. 10-11 (Mait. v. 6) ; v. 26-7

(Matt. xxi. 41) ; v. 27-8 (Matt.

xiii. 30) ; v. 117-18 (Matt. xxii.

21); vii. 23-4 (Matt. xi. 3);

vii. 48 (Matt. xi. 12) ; vii. 55-6

(Matt. iii. 15) ; vii. 119 (Matt.

III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS

%T6

xxvii. 5) ; viii. 67-8 (Mait. viii.

24-6) ; x. 8, 10-13 (Matt. xii.

42) ; x. 417-18 (Matt. xvii. 1-

8) ; x. 428-9 (Matt. v. 45).
Explanatio Nominum 1 ], vii. 86-8.
Ezechielis, Prophetia], viii. 40

(Ezech. viii. 16) ; x. 396-8 (Ezech.

xxviii. 12-13) ; x. 419 (Ezech.

ii. 1 : A. V. i. 28).

Finibus, De], x. 34-5 (Fin. i. 6).
Fortuitorum Remedia, 2 iii (iv). 42.

Galatas, Epistola ad. [Epistola.]
Generatione et Corruptione, De], iii

(iv). 17-18 (Gen. i. 3).
Genesis, Liber], v. 86-7 (Gen. i. 9) ;

vi. 36 (Gen. xi. 4) ; vii. 121-2

(Gen. i. 26).
Georgica], v. 46-7 (Georg. i. 412);

v; 55-6 (Georg. i. 94, 107) ;

vii. 101-2 (Georg. ii. 479-80).

Hebraeos, Epistola ad. [Epistola.]

Hier-. [Ier-.]

Hierarchia, De Coelesti. [Coelesti
Hierarchia, De.]

Historiae adversum Paganos], v.
112-13 (Hist. i. 1, § 6; iii. 8,
§§3^5, 7,8; vi. 22, §§ 1-5);
vii. 49-55 (Hist. vi. 22, §§ 6, 7,
8 ; vii. 3, § 4) ; viii. 16-18
(Hist. vi. 22, §§ 6, 7, 8 ; vii. 3,
§4).

Horatius. [Poetria.]

Ieremiae, Prophetia, v. 14-15 (Ier.

1. 46) ; v. 83-4 (Ier. xxxvii.

8) ; vii. 138 (Ier. xi. 20) ; vii**.

7 (Ier. xxiii. 9) ; x. 316-17

(Ier. xxiii. 24).
Ieremias. [Ieremiae, Prophetia :

Lamentationes. 1
Infernus, x. 170. [Comoedia Dantis.~\

InventioneRhetorica, De. [Rhetorica,

Nova.]
lob, Liber], vii. 2-3 (Iob vii. 1).
lohannem, Evangelium secundum.

[Evangelium.]
Iohannes. [Evangelium secundum

Iohannem : Iohannis Visio.]
Iohannis Visio, v. 14 (Rev. v. 5) ;

vi. 21 (Rev. xxi. 8) ; x. 475-6

(Rev. i. 8 ; xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13).
Iosue, Liber], v. 25-6 (Ios. vi. 21 ;

x. 28, 30) ; vii. 21 (Ios. x. 12-

14).
Isaiae, Prophetia, v. 102 (Isai.

Ixv. 17 ; lxvi. 22) ; vi. 137-8

(Isai. liii. 4).

Lamentationes Ieremiae], vii. 143-

4 (Lam. v. 2) ; viii. 1-2 (Lam.

i. 1) ; viii. 25 (Lam. i. 7).
Levitici, Liber], viii. 42 (Lev. x. i) ;

viii. 46 (Lev. x. 2).
Lucam, Evangelium secundum.

[Evangelium.]
Lucanus. [Pharsalia.]
Lucas. [Actus Apostolorum :

Evangelium secundum Lucam.]

Machabaeorum, Libri], viii. 49

(1 Machab. vii. 4-12).
Marcum, Evangelium secundum.

[Evangelium.]
Maro. [Virgilius.]
Martinus Dumiensis. [Fortui-

torum Remedia 2 .]
Matlhaeum, Evangelium secundum.

[Evangelium.]
Metamorphoseos, iii (iv). 32-9

(Metam. iv. 1 ff., 192 ff.) ; iii (iv).

41 (Metam. iii. 406 ; xiv. 694 ;

cf. Trist. v. 8, 7-9) ; vii. 93-4

(Metam. ix. 70-4) ; vii. 114-15

(Metam. x. 298 ff. ; viii. 35

1 The interpretation of Scripture names which is included in
many MSS. of the Vulgate.

3 By Martinus Dumiensis ; but by Dante, and commonly in the
Middle Ages, ascribed to Seneca.

274

III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS

(Metam.ii. 200 ff.) ; x. 9 (Metam.
v. 250 ff.) ; x. 289 (Metam. ii.
110).
Metaphysica, x. 72-3 (Met. ii. 1) ;
x. 215-16 (Met. ii. 1) ; x. 283-5
(Met. ii. 2).

Naso. [Ovidius.]

Nominum Explanatio. \_Explanatio.~]
Nova Ehetorica. [Rhetorica, Nova.]
Numerorum, Liber], viii. 96-7
(Num. xxii. 28-30).

Orosius. [Historiae adversum

Paganos.]
Ovidius. [Metamorphoseos : Tristia.]

Paradisus, x. 56, 171, 199, 221.

[Comoedia Dantis.]
Paralipomenon, Libri], v. 13-14

(2 Paralip. vii. 15) ; viii. 4-5

(2 Paralip. xi. 14) ; x. 8, 10-13

(2 Paralip. ix. i, 5-6).
Partibus Animalium, De], x. 383-4

(Part. Anim. iii. 10).
Paulus. [Epistolae ad Corinthios :

Epistola ad Ephesios : Epistola

ad Romanos : Epistolae ad Timo-

theum.]
Petri, Epistolae. [Epistolae.]
Pharsalia], vi. 81 (Phars. iii. 58) ;

vii. 63-6 (Phars. i. 280-2) ; x.

324-6 (Phars. ix. 580.)
Philosophiae, De Consolatione. [Con-

solatione Philosophiae, De.]
Physica, v. 93 (Phys. i. 1) ; x.

350-2 (Phys. iv. 4).
Plato, x. 438.
Poetria, x. 164-7 (A. P. 93-6) ; x.

176-7 (A. P. 75-8).
Politica], x. 39-40 (Pol. i. 2).
Prophetae. [Amos, Danielis,

Ezechielis, Ieremiae, Isaiae, Pro-

phetiae.]
Proverbiorum, Liber], v. 79 (Prov.

1 Dante follows the arrangement of the Vulgate, in which the
four books known in A. V. as First and Second of Samuel, and
First and Second of Kings, are reckoned as four books of Kings (cf.
Conv. iv. 27, 1. 63 ; and Mon. iii. 6, 1. 1).

v. 15) ; vi. 106 (Prov. i. 17) ;
vii. 8-9 (Prov. xxix. 4) ; viii.
82 (Prov. xxx. 15).
Psalmorum, Liber, iii (iv). 1 (Ps.
xliv. 2 : A. V. xlv. 1) ; v. 12-13
(Ps. x. 6 : A. V. xi. 5) ; v. 47-8
(Ps. xciv. 2 : A. V. xcv. 2) ; v.
85 (Ps. xiii. 1 : A. V. xiv. 1 ;
lii. 1 : A. V. liii. 1) ; v. 86-7
(Ps. xciv. 5 : A. V. xcv. 5) ; vi.
42-3 (Ps. cx. 10 : A. V. cxi. 10) ;
vi. 107 (Ps. cxviii. 1 : A. V.
cxix. 1) ; vii. 7-8 (Ps. cxxxvi.
1: A. V. cxxxvii. 1) ; vii. 145-
6 (Ps. cxxxvi: A. V. cxxxvii);
vii**. 7 (Ps. xxxv. 9 : A. V.
xxxvi. 8) ; viii. 26 (Ps. lxxviii.
10 : A. V. lxxix. 10 ; cxiii 2 . 2 :
A. V. cxv. 2) ; viii. 56 (Ps.
lxviii. 10 : A. V. Ixix. 9) ; viii.
57 (Ps. viii. 3 : A. V. viii. 2) ;
x. 109-11 (Ps. exiii. 1-2 : A. V.
cxiv. 1-2) ; x. 318-20 (Ps.
cxxxviii. 7-9 : A. V. cxxxix.
7-9).

Quantitate Animae, De, x. 422-3
(Quant. Anim. xxxiii. 76).

Regum, Libri *] , v. 85 (3 Reg. xxii.
17 : A. V. 1 Kings) ; vi. 50
(2 Reg. i. 21 : A. V. 2 Sam.) ; vi.
143-4 (1 Reg. xiv. 39 : A. V.
1 Sam.) ; vii. 21-2 (4 Reg. xx.
1, 11: A. V. 2 Kings); vii.
80-4 (1 Reg. xv. 17-18: A. V.

1 Sam.) ; vii. 139-42 (1 Reg. xvii.
48-53: A. V. 1 Sam.) ; viii.
50-2 (2 Reg. vi. 6-7 : A. V.

2 Sam.) ; viii. 63-5 (2 Reg. vi.
6 : A. V. 2 Sam.) ; x. 8, 10-13
(3 Reg. x. 1, 7 : A. V. 1 Kings).

Rerum Transformatione, De. [Meta-

III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS 275

Revelations. [Mutnnis Visio.'
Rhetorica,x. 228-30 (Rhet. iii. 14) ;

x. 233-4 (Rhet. iii. 14).
Rhetorica, Nova, x. 244-8 (Rhet. i.

15).
.Richardus de Sancto Victore.

[Contemplatione, De.~\
Romanos, Epistola ad. [Epistola.~\

Samuelis, Libri. \_Regum, Libri.]
Sancto Victore, Richardus de.

[Contemplatione, De.~\
Sapientiae, Liber, vii. 3-4 (Sap. ii.

24) ; x. 30-3 (Sap. vii. 14) ; x.

321-2 (Sap. i. 7).
Seneca, iii (iv). 43 ; x. 154

[Fortuitorum Remedia. 1 ]

Sonetto : ' Io sono stato con
Amore '], iii (iv). 14 (' sermo
Calliopeus ').

Speculum (Iuris), viii. 88.

Terentius, x. 157.

Timotheum, Epistolae ad. [Epi-

stolae.\\
Tristia~\, iii (iv). 41 (Trist. v. 8,

7-9 ; cf. Metam. iii. 406).
Tullius. [Cicero.]

Virgilius. \Aeneis : Bucolica :

Georgica.~\
Visio Iohannis. [Iohannis Visio.~\

INDEX OF QUOTATIONS-TABLE.

Epist. i. 1

i. 30-4

Epist. ii. 3
ii. 6

Epist. iii (iv). 1
iii (iv). 14
iii (iv). 17-18
iii (iv). 32-9
iii (iv). 41

iii (iv). 42-3

iii (iv). 45-6
Epist. iv (iii). 28-9
Epist. v. 1

v. 4-5

v. 10-11

v. 12-13

v. 13-14

v. 14

v. 14-15

v. 17

v. 21

v. 25-6

v. 26-7

v. 27-8

Brev. Rom.

Virg. Aen. i. 600-5 ; ii. 536-8.

Rom. viii. 4 ; Gal. iv. 29.

Virg. Aen. i. 605.

Ps. xliv. 2 (A. V. xlv. 1).

Dant. Son. * Io sono stato con Atnore '.

Arist. Gen. et Cor. i. 3.

Ovid. Metam. iv. 1 ff., 192 ff.

Ovid. Metam. iii. 406 ; xiv. 694 ; Trist. v. 8,

7-9.
(Pseudo-) Seneca, Fortuit. Remed. 1
Ioh. xv. 19.

Dant. Canz. ' Amor dacche convien '.
2 Cor. vi. 2.
Virg. Aen. iii. 530.
Matt. v. 6.

Ps. x. 6 (A. V. xi. 5).

Virg. Aen. x. 723, 726 ; 2 Paralipom. vii. 15.
Rev. v. 5.
Ierem. 1. 46.
Deut. vi. 3.
Luc. ii. 32.

Ios. vi. 21 ; x. 28, 30 ; &c.
Matt. xxi. 41.
Amos vi. 13 ; Matt. xiii. 30.

1 By Martinus Dumiensis ; but by Dante, and commonly in the
Middle Ages, ascribed to Seneca.

t2

276 III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS

Epist. v. 31

Actus B. Silvestri.

v. 46-7

Virg. Georg. i. 412.

v. 47-8

Ps. xciv. (A. V. xcv) 2.

v. 49-50

Rom. xiii. 2.

v. 52

Act. ix. 5.

v. 53-4

Luc. xxi. 28; Rom. xiii. 11.

v. 54-5

Ephes. vi. 17.

v. 55-6

Virg. Georg. i. 94, 107.

v. 58

2 Cor. vi. 1.

v. 79

Virg. Aen. i. 613.

v. 79

Prov. v. 15.

v. 83-4

lerem. xxxvii. 8.

v. 85

3 Regum (A. V. 1 Kings) xxii. 17 ; Ps. xiii.

(A. V. xiv) 1 ; lii. (A. V. liii) 1.

v. 86-7

Ps. xciv. (A. V. xcv) 5 ; Gen. i. 9.

v. 91-2

Rom. i. 20.

v. 93

Arist. Phys. i. 1.

v. 97-100

Virg. Aen. i. 372-3.

v. 102

2 Pet. iii. 13 ; Isai. lxv. 17 ; Ixvi. 22.

v. 112-13

Oros. Adv. Pag. i. 1, § 6 ; iii. 8, §§3, 5, 7,

8 ; vi. 22, §§ 1-5.

v. 117-18

Matt. xxii. 21.

v. 121-3

Ioh. xix. 10-11.

v. 123-5

Ephes. iv. 17.

v. 127-8

1 Pet. ii. 17.

Epist. vi. 17

Deut. xxxii. 35.

vi. 21

Rev. xxi. 8.

vi. 26

1 Pet. ii. 18.

vi. 36

Gen. xi. 4.

vi. 42-3

Ps. cx. (A. V. cxi) 10.

vi. 50

2 Regum (A. V. 2 Sam.) i. 21.

vi. 61

Deut. xvii. 3 ; Act. vii. 42.

vi. 77

Virg. Aen. iv. 344 ; vii. 322 ; x. 58.

vi. 81

Lucan. Phars. iii. 58.

vi. 84

Virg. Aen. x. 843.

vi. 94

Virg. Aen. vi. 276.

vi. 95

Virg. Aen. ii. 353.

vi. 106

Prov. i. 17.

vi. 107

Ps. cxviii. (A. V. cxix) 1.

vi. 113

Rom. vii. 23.

vi. 129

2 Cor. vii. 9-10.

vi. 137-8

Isai. liii. 4.

vi. 143

1 Regum (A. V. 1 Sam.) xiv. 39.

Epist. vii. 1-2

Ioh. xiv. 27.

vii. 2-3

Iob vii. 1.

vii. 3-4

1 Pet. v. 8 ; Sapient. ii. 24.

vii. 7-8

Ps. cxxxvi. (A. V. cxxxvii) 1.

vii. 8-9

Prov. xxix. 4.

vii. 16-17

Virg. Ecl. iv. 6.

III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS 277

Epist. vii. 21

vii. 21-2
vii. 23-4
vii. 33
vii. 34-5
vii. 36
vii. 43
vii. 47-8
vii. 49-51
vii. 49-55
vii. 52
vii. 53
vii. 55-6
vii. 63-6
vii. 67-73
vii. 80-4
vii. 86-8
vii. 93-4
vii. 101-2
vii. 114-15
vii. 115-19
vii. 119
vii. 121-2
vii. 128-9
vii. 134-5
vii. 137
vii. 138
vii. 139-42
vii. 143-4
vii. 145-6

Epist. vii.* 13-14
vii.* 19

Epist. vii**. 7

Epist. viii. 1

viii. 4-5
viii. 15-16
viii. 16-18
viii. 19
viii. 25
viii. 26

viii. 27
viii. 35
viii. 36
viii. 40
viii. 42, 46
viii. 42-3, 45
viii. 49

Ios. x. 12-14.

4 Regum (A. V. 2Kings) xx. 1, 11.

Matt. xi. 3 ; Luc. vii. 19.

Luc. i. 47.

Ioh. i. 29.

Virg. Aen. ii. 373-4.

Matt. xi. 12.

Virg. Aen. i. 286-7.

Luc. ii. 1.

Oros. Adv. Pag. vi. 22, §§ 6, 7, 8 ; vii. 3, § 4.

Ioh. iii. 16, 18.

Luc. ii. 3, 5.

Matt. iii. 15.

Lucan. Phars. i. 280-2.

Virg. Aen. iv. 272-6.

1 Regum (A. V. 1 Sam.) xv. 17-18.

Explan. Nominum. 1

Ovid. Metam. ix. 70-4.

Virg. Georg. ii. 479-80.

Ovid. Metam. x. 298 ff.

Virg. Aen. xii. 593-607.

Matt. xxvii. 5.

Gen. i. 26.

Rom. xiii. 2.

Rom. i. 28.

Virg. Aen. iv. 569.

Ierem. xi. 20 ; Rom. ix. 29.

1 Regum (A. V. 1 Sam.) xvii. 48-53.
Lament. v. 2.

Ps. cxxxvi (A. V. cxxxvii).

Virg. Aen. i. 600-1.

Virg. Aen. i. 603-5.

Ps. xxxv. 9 (A. V. xxxvi. 8) ; Ierem. xxiii. 9.

Lament. i. 1.

2 Paralipom. xi. 14.
loh. xxi. 15-17.

Oros. Adv. Pag. vi. 22, §§ 6, 7, 8 ; vii. 3, § 4.
1 Tim. ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 11 ; Rom. xi. 13.
Lament. i. 7.
Ps. lxxviii. (A. V. lxxix) 10 ; Ps. cxiii 2 .

(A. V. cxv) 2.
Ephes. vi. 11-12.
Ovid. Metam. ii. 200 ff.
Heb. xi. 13.
Ezech. viii. 16.
Levit. x. 1-2.
Ioh. ii. 14-15.
1 Machab. vii. 4-12.
See above, p. 273, n. 1.

278

III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS

Epist. viii. 50-2, 63-5

2 Regum (A. V. 2 Sam.) vi. 6-7.

viii. 53

r 1 Cor. xv. 9.

viii. 55-6

1 Cor. xv. 10.

viii. 56

Ps. lxviii. 10 (A. V. lxix. 9).

viii. 57

Ps. viii. 3 (A. V. viii. 2).

viii. 58-60

loh. ix. 1-41.

viii. 62-3

Arist. Eth. i. 6.

viii. 63-5

2 Regum (A. V. 2 Sam.) vi. 6.

viii. 67-8

Matt. viii. 24-6 ; Marc. iv. 36-9 ; Luc. viii.

22-5.

viii. 81

Ioh. iii. 5.

viii. 82

Prov. xxx. 15.

viii. 96-7

Num. xxii. 28-30.

viii. 99

2 Cor. xii. 11.

viii. 131-2

2 Pet. iii. 7.

viii. 136

Heb. xi. 13.

viii. 139

Luc. xix. 38.

Epist. x. 2

Virg. Aen. vii. 104; ix. 473-4 ; iv. 182.

x. 8, 10-13

3 Regum (A. V. 1 Kings) x. 1, 7 ; 2 Paralipom.

ix. 1, 5-6 ; Matt. xii. 42 ; Luc. xi. 31.

x. 9

Ovid. Metam. v. 250 ff.

x. 20-2

Arist. Eth. viii. 8 ; viii. 2, 3.

x. 25

Arist. Eth. viii. 6.

x. 30-3

Sapient. vii. 14.

x. 34-5

Arist. Anim. iii. 3 ; Cic. Fin. i. 6 ; Acad.

ii. 26.

x. 39-40

Arist. Polit. i. 2.

x. 48-9

Arist. Eth. ix. 1.

x. 72-3

^iai^Jdeta^hys. jju~l.

x. 109-11

Ps. cxmTXA. V.cxiv) 1-2.

x. 164-7

Hor. Poet. 93-6.

x. 176-7

Hor. Poet. 75-8.

x. 211

Arist. Jftfc. i. 3.

x. 215-16

Arist. Metaphys. ii. 1.

x. 223-4

Dant. Par. i. 37.

x. 228-30

Arist. Rhet. iii. 14.

x. 233-4

Arist. Pfte^. iii. 14.

x. 242-3

Dant. Par. i. 13.

x. 244-8

Cic. Rhet. i. 15.

x. 268-70

Dant. Par. i. 1-3.

x. 583-5

Arist. Metaphys. ii. 2.

x. 289

Virg. ^len. viii. 23 ; Ovid. Metam. ii. 110.

x. 290-2

De Causis, i. init.

x. 307-10

Dionys. Coel. Hier. iii, § 2.

x. 311-12

De Causis, x. imY.

x. 316-17

Ierem. xxiii. 24.

x. 318-20

Ps. cxxxviii. (A. V. cxxxix) 7-9.

x. 321-2

Sapieni. i. 7.

x. 322-3

Ecclus. xlii. 16.

III. INDEX OF QUOTATIONS 279

Epist. x. 324-6 Lucan. Phars. ix. 580.

x. 328-9 Dant. Par. i. 2.

x. 337-8 Dant. Par. i. 4-5.

x. 350-2 Arist. Phys. iv. 4.

x. 383-4 Arist. Part. Animal. iii. 10.

x. 386 Dant. Par. i. 4.

x. 389-91 JG5§£ Coel. i. 2.

x. 393-4 Ephes. iv. 10.

x. 396-8 Ezech. xxviii. 12-13.

x. 401 Dant. Par. i. 5-6.

x. 402-4 Dant. Par. i. 8-9.

x. 410-14 2 Cor. xii. 3-4.

x. 417-18 Matt. xvii. 1-8.

x. 419 Ezech. ii. 1 (A. V. i. 28).

x. 420-1 Rich. S. Vict. Contempl. iv. 23.

x. 421-2 Bernard. Consid. v. 2.

x. 422-3 August. Quant. Anim. xxxiii. 76.

x. 426-8 Ban. ii. 3.

x. 428-9 Matt. v. 45.

x. 433-4 Dant. Par. i. 6.

. x. 442-4 Dant. Par. i. 10-12.

x. 446 Dant. Par. i. 13.

x. 450-1 Dant. Par. i. 22.

x. 454 Dant. Par. i. 16.

x. 467-8 loh. xvii. 3.

x. 469-70 Boet. Cons. Phil. iii. met. 9.

x. 475-6 Bev. i. 8 ; xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13.

IV. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
GENERAL INDEX 1

AND

Abati, Ciolo degli ; see Ciolo.
Abihu, 131 nn.

Absolvi, technical sense of, 157 n.
Acta Henrici VII, Imperatoris

Romanorum ; see Bonaini ; Don-

niges.
Actus B. Silvestri, 50 n.
Adrian V, 32.
Aeneas, representative of Roman

Empire, 95 n., 98 n.
Aeneid, quoted, xxxiii n. ; D.'s

knowledge of, xxxv.
Agag, interpretation of, 95 n.
Aghinolfo da Romena, 12, 14 n.,

17 n.
Aguglione, Baldo d' ; see Baldo.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Henry VII

crowned at, 44, 216.
Albert I, Emperor, death, 215.
Albertini, Niccolo degli ; see

Niccolo.
Albertus Magnus, De Natura Lo-

corum, 91 n.
Albizzi, A. degli, Risposta al

Discorso del Castravilla, xxxviiin.
Alcimus, type of Clement V,

131 n.
Alessandro da Romena, 2, 3n.,

5n., 12, 13, 14 n., 17 n. ; Cap-

tain of Florentine exiles, 2,

3n., 5n., 13 ; D.'s condemna-

tion of, in Inf., 12 ; date of his

death, 12, 13, 14 n.
Alighieri, Dante ; see Dante.
Alighieri, Pietro, D.'s son ; see

Pietro di Dante.
Alighieri, Pietro, D.'s great-

grandson, xxvii.

Allacci, Leone, superintends

removal of Heidelberg MSS.

totheVf
Alleon, 174.
Almus, 46 n.
Alpha, 195 n.

Amalech, interpretation of, 95 n.
Amata, type of Florence, 98 n. ;

her suicide, 98 n., 99 n.
Ambrose, St., 134 n.
Ambrosian MS. of Epist. x ; see

Cod. Ambrosiano.
American (Cambridge) Dante

Society, viii, ix n., xiii n. ; see

Cambridge (U.S.A.).
Amphitrites, 92 n.
Anagni, capture of Boniface

VIII at, by Sciarra Colonna,

140 n.
Angels, 190 n.
Anonimo Fiorentino, commen-

taiy on D.C., 175 n., 195 n.
Antecedenter, abbreviation of, in

MSS., 157 n.
Antiqua Translatio of Aristotle,

56 n., 169 n., 179 n., 189 n.
Antologia di Fossombrone, liin.,

42, 43.
Aniologia Fiorentina, xlvi, 121.
Anubis, identification of, with

Mercury, 94 n.
Apennines, Tuscan, source of

Arno in, 76 n.
Apostata, 129 n.
Appleton's New American Cyclo-

paedia, 150.
Aqua et Terra, Quaesiio de ; see

Quaestio.

See pp. 253, 254.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

281

Arbia, Henry VII encamps on

banks of, 221 ; defeat of Guelfs

at, in 1260, 221 n.
Archimandrita, 133 n.
Archivio di Stato (Florence),

160.
Aretino, Leonardo ; see Bruni, L.
Arezzo, D.'s letter to Niecolo da

Prato prob. written from, 3 ;

headquarters of Florentine

exiles, 3 n. ; Latin title of,

166 n.
Argi, for Argivi, 55 n., 56 n.
Argonauts, repulse of, from

Simois, by Laomedon, 56 n.
Aristotle, Antiqua Translatio of,

56 n., 169 n., 179 n., 189 n. ;

Bruni's translation of the

Poetics, xix.
Arno, 32 ; always called Sarnus

by D. in Lat. works, 34 n., 76 ;

springs of, 76 n.
Ars dictatoria, 225.
Asiatic writers, their use of

TTapa-rrXrjpufiaTa, 246 n.
Asti, Henry VII at, 91 n., 217.
Attila, reputed destruction of

Florence, 75 n., 98 n.
Augsburg, Fuggers of, xlviii.
Augusta, 49 n., 87 n.
Augustine, St., De Civilate Dei,

72 n., 134 n. ; Confessiones,

134 n. ; De Doctrina Christiana,

134 n. ; De Quantitate Animae,

134 n., 192 n.
Augustus, 49 n., 87 n.
Aula, 16 n.
Aus Dantes Verbannung ; see

Scheffer-Boichorst.
Auspitia, 34 n., 39 n.
Austria, Frederick of ; see Fred-

erick.
Autem, abbreviation of, in MSS.,

157 n.
Avignon, 3n., 124; Jacques

d'Euse, Archbp. of, elected

Pope, 126 ; removal of Apo-

stolic See to, the eclipse of

the Papacy, 139 n.

Babylon, 89 n.

Babylonii, 68 n.

Balbo, C, Vita di Dante, xxix, 43,

85, 149.
Baldo d* Aguglione, Biforma di,

156 n., 218.
Baluze, E., Vitae Paparum Ave-

nionensium, 126 n.
Banchi, L., Statuti Senesi, 166 n.
Bandini, A. M., Catalogus Codicum

MSS. Graecorum, Latinorum, et

Italorum Bibliothecae Mediceae-

Laurentianae, xliii n., xliv.
Bannister, H. M., x.
Barbarossa ; see Frederick I.
Barbera, G., livn., 2n.
Barbi, Della Fortuna di D. nel Cin-

quecento, xxxviii n. ; in Bull.

Soc. Dant. Ital., liii, 21 n., 42n.,

151 n., 152 nn, 154 n., 155 n. ;

in Studii su Giovanni Boccaccio,

151 n.
Baroncelli, Francesco de', al-

leged imitation of D.'s refer-

ence to Hannibal in Epist. viii.

123 n.
Bartoli, A., Storia della Letteratura

Italiana, xxx, xxxvn., 32 n.,

63, 83, 123 n., 149.
Bartolomei, Enrico ; see Susa,

Henry of.
Baruffaldi, G., text of Epist. x in

La Galleria di Minerva, xxxixn.,

xli-ii, xlvi, 161.
Batines, Colomb de, Bibliografia

Daniesca, liii, 42 n.
Battifolle, Countess of, letters

to Empress Margaret (Epist.

vii*, vii**, vii***), vii n., viii,

ix, 1, li, 1, 3, 6n, 8n., 11,

16 n., 49 n., 63, 65, 76 n.,

87 nn., 97 n., 106-20, 165 n.,

218 ; MS. order of, departed

frombyTorri, 106n. ; identity

of the lady, 109 n.
Battifolle, Guido di Simone di,

109n.
Battifolle, Guido Novello di,

D.'s host at Poppi, 76 n.

282

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Baumgartenberger, Formularius

de modo prosandi, 5 n.
Bavaria, Louis of ; see Louis.
Bavaria, Maxiniilian of; see

Maximilian.
Beatrice Portinari, death of,

xiii ; Filelfo's opinion as to

D.'s Beatrice, xxviii, xxxin.
Bede, 135,n.
Benedict XI, appoints Cardinal

Niccolo da Prato pacificator in

Tuscany, 3, 5n., 214; election

of, 214 ; death, 215.
Benedictines of Solesmes, 225 n.
Beniamin maior ; see Richard of

St. Victor.
Benoit de Sainte-Maure, Eoman

de Troie, 56 n.
Benvenuto da Imola, comment-

ary on D. C, 46n., 166n.,

175 n., 176 n., 195 n.
Bergamo, 96 n., 137 n.
Bernard, St., 74 n. ; De Considera-

tione, 191 n.
Berno, G.,,text of Epist. x, 161.
Bethune, Evrard de ; see Evrard.
Biagi, V., in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital,

160 n., 171 n., 182 nn., 210 n.
Bianchi, Brunone, 64 n.
Bianchi, of Florence, leaders

banished, xxi, 213 ; letter to

Niccolo da Prato in their

name, 3 ; send embassy to

Boniface VIII, 213; finally

expelled from Florence, 214.
Bibliofilia, La, liii n., 122.
Bibliografia Dantesca ; see Batines.
Biblioteca Ambrosiana (Milan),

160.
Biblioteca Laurenziana (Flor-

ence), 19, 31 n.
Biblioteca Marciana (Venice),

xlvi, 82.
Biblioteca Muranese, xlvi, 82 n.,

83 n.
Biblioteca Riccardiana (Flor-

ence), 43.
Biblioteca Vaticana (Rome), 1,

11, 29, 42, 63, 82.

Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele
(Rome), 42, 82.

Biondo, Flavio, Historiarum ab
inclinato Romano Imperio De-
cades, xxvi-vii, 98 n., 107 n.,

216 n.

Biscioni, A. M., Prose di D. A.
e di Messer Gio. Boccaccl, xxxv,
xliii, 85.

Blanc, L. G., 161 n.

BldtterfiXr literarische Unterhaltung,
xlvn., xlix, 2n.

Boccaccio, G., Vita di Dante, xvi,
xxxviii, xlv, 32, 151 ; utilized
D.'s letter to M. Malaspina,
xvii, 30-1, 31 nn., 35 n. ;
Comento sopra la D. C, xvii,
174 n., 176 n. ; letters of D. in
his handwriting, xvii, xlv, 19,
121 ; autograph MSS. of, xvii,
xlv, 19 n., 31 n., 121 ; Decame-
ron, xviii ; his Zibaldone, xliii,
19 n., 20 n. ; prob. original
compiler of collection of D.'s
letters in Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat.
1729, xlviin., 3n., 12 n., 107;
and of that in Cod. Laurent.
xxix. 8, 19, 12l.

Bodleian, MSS. of Passionale,
50 n. ; MSS. of Vulgate, 195 n.

Boehmer, E., in Dante-Jahrbuch,
171 nn.

Boehmer, J. F., Begesta Imperii,

217 nn.

Boffito, Gr., L'Epistola di D. A.
a Cangrande della Scala, xvii n.,
xxxviiin., liiin., 160 n., 161 n.,
162, 163 n., 168 n., 169 n.,
187 n.

Bohemia, Elizabeth, Q. of; see
Elizabeth.

Bohemia, John, K. of ; see John.

Bohemia, Wenceslaa IV, K. of ;
see Wenceslas.

BOhmer ; see Boehmer.

Bologna, Innocent IV, professor
of law at, 135 n. ; Henry of
Susa lecturer at, 135 n. ; Latin
titleof, 166 n.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

283

Bonaini, F., Acta Henrici VII,
166 n., 216 nn., 217 n.

Boniface VIII, alleged letter of
D. to, xxix ; bulls of, 16 n.,
HOn., 142n. ; death, 139n.,
214 ; contest with the Colon-
nesi, 139n., 140n., 141 n. ; de-
prives the Colonna Cardinals,

139 n., 140 n. ; capture at
Anagni by Sciarra Colonna,

140 n. ; Eegistres de Boniface
VIII, 140 n., 142 n. ; forbids
Jacopo and Pietro Colonna to
use the insignia of Cardinal,

140 n. ; creates his nephew,
Francesco Gaetani, Cardinal,

141 n. ; embassy of Florentine
Bianchi to, 213.

Borghini, V., xxxviii ; Introdu-
zione al Poema di Dante per
VAllegoria, xxxix, xlii.

Bosone da Gubbio, Petrarch's
canzone to, 123.

Botta, V., Dante as Philosopher,
Patriot and Poet, 150.

Boulogne, Guy de ; see Guy.

Brabant, Empress Margaret of ;
see Margaret.

Braga, Archbishop of ; see Mar-
tinus Dumiensis.

Brescia, siege of, by Henry VII,
85 n„ 96n., 109 n., 218; Guelfs
expelled from, by Can Grande,
219.

Brightman, F. E., x, 50 n.

Brown, Horatio F., x.

Brunetto Latini ; see Latini.

Bruni, Leonardo, Vita di Dante,
xvi, xviii-xxv, xxviii, xxix,
xxxi, xliii, 2n., 5n., 64 ; ac-
count of D.'s letters, xviii-
xxiii ; at Council of Constance,
xviii n. ; description of D.'s
handwriting, xix; trans. of
Aristotle^sPoe^cSjXix; Diahgus
ad Petrum Histrum, xix ; Historia
Florentina, xxin,, xxvn., 3n.,
65.

Bryce, J ,,HolyRomanEmpire, 87 n.

Bulletin Italien, 88 n., 94 n.

Bulletiino della Societd Dantesca
Italiana, vi, xviin., xxvn.,
xxvi nn., xlii n. ,xlviin., lii nn.,
liii, livn.,3n.,7n., 12n., 13n.,
14 n., 15 n., 17 n., 20, 21 n.,
22 n., 23 n., 24 n., 29, 31 nn.,
32, 33 nn., 34n., 36 n., 42 n.,
46 n., 48 n., 54 n., 69 nn.,
73 n., 83 n., 84 n., 107 n.,
128 n., 136 nn., 141 n., 149,
149n., 151nn., 152nn., 153n.,
154nn.,155n., 156 nn., 157n.,
160 n., 170 n., 171 nn., 174 n.,
179 n., 182 n., 210 n., 222 nn.,
227 n., 228 n., 229 n., 238 n.,
246 n., 250 n.

Bunbury, F. J., Life and Times of
D.A., 44, 85, 150.

Buoncompagno di Firenze,
224 n.

Buonconvento, death of Henry
VII at, 221.

Buonmattei, B., Quaderno Secon-
do per le lezioni su D. t xxxviiin.

Buti, F. da, commentary on
D.C., xvii, 175 n., 176 n.,
195 n.

Cabinet Cyclopaedia, 150.

Caesar, Julius, defeat of Pompey

at Pharsalia, 52 n. ; siege of

Fiesole, 75 n.
Cahors, John XXII native of,

142 n.
Calvi, Peregrino, xxvi.
Cambridge (U.S.A.) Dante Society,

Annual Reports of, xiiin.,

xxiin., 31 n., 150, 215 n.
Campaldino, D.'s account of

battle of, xx, xxviii.
Can Grande della Scala ; see

Scala.
Cancellieri, F., Osservazioni sopra

V Originalitd della D. 0., 148.
Canonists, 135 nn.
Cante de' Gabrielli; see Gabri-

elli.
Canzone of D., ' Amor, dacche

284

IV. GENERAL INDEX

convien ', addressed to M.
Malaspina, 32 n., 33 nn.,
34 nn., 35 nn., 36 nn., 36-8,
40-1.

Oanzoniere of D., quoted, 113 n.

Cardinals, Italian, D.'s letter to
(Epist. viii), xiiin., xvi, xliv,
xlvi, 19, 86, 121-47, 148, 221 ;
known to Petrarch and
Rienzi, 123, 131 n., 137 n.,
names of the Cardinals, 124,
137 n. ; attack on them in
Conclave, 124, 221 ; their let-
ter describing the outrage,
124 n.-126 n. ; take refuge at
Valence, 124 ; four of them
Roman Cardinals, 137 n.

Cardinals, Roman, names of,
137 n.

Carpentras, Conclave at, 3n.,
124-6, 139 n., 142 n., 221;
outrage on the Italian Cardi-
nalsat, 124-6, 221.

Carte Strozziane (Florence), 160.

Carthage, secular enemy of
Rome, 141 n. ; destroyed by
Scipio Africanus Minor, 141 n.

Casentino, D. in, 32, 32 n., 76n.,
107.

Castello della Pieve, leaders of
Florentine Neri exiled to,
xxi.

Castelvetro, L., Sposizione di Canti
ventinove delV Infemo, xxxviii,
xxxix n.

Castruccio Castraeani, relations
with Bishop of Luni, 134 n.

Catholicon; see Giovanni da
Genova.

Cavalcanti, Guido ; see Guido.

Cecco d' Ascoli, references to
his correspondence with D.
in Acerba, xiv-xv ; refers in
Acerba to D.'s correspondence
with Cino da Pistoja, 21 n.

Celestial Hierarchies, 16 n.,
184 n.

Celsitudo, astitle of honour, 97 n.,
104 n., 114 n.

Cesena, Guido da Polenta Po-
desta of, xxxv.

Charles II, K. of Naples, 46 n.,
216.

Choiseul, Comtesse Horace de,
Dante: Le Purgatoire, 150;
Dante : Le Paradis, 162.

Christ Church, Dean of, x.

Ciampi, S., xlv.

Cicero, De Finibus, 69 n. ; ' prosa
numerosa ' of, 224 ; Orator,
246 n. ; on the use of irapa-
vXrjpwpara by Asiatic writers,
246 n.

Cino da Pistoja, D.'s letter to
(Epist. iii (iv)), xvii, xliv, xlv,
15 n., 19-29, 121, 148, 215;
identified with the Pistojan
exile, xliv, 20 ; banishment
from Pistoja, 20-1, 213; his
return, 21, 215 ; belonged to
the Neri, 21, 213, 215 ; Barbi
on, 21 n. ; Corbellini on,

21 n.; his sonnet to D., 21 n.,

22 n., 26 n. ; Rossetti's trans.
of, 26 n. ; D.'s sonnet to, 21 n.,

23 n., 26, 28-9, 31 ; Cecco d'
Ascoli's reference to, 21 n. ;
Del Bene's reference to, 31.

Cinyras, K. of Cyprus, father of

Myrrha, 97 n.
Ciolo degli Abati, presented at

the oblatio, 156 n.
Cipolla, C, Compendio della Storia

Politica di Verona, 166 n.
Cittadini, Celso, owned MS. of

Dante's letters, 42 n.
CivitateDei, De; see Augustine, St.
Clark, A. C, 225, 235 n., 238 n.,

245 n. ; The Cursus in Mediaeval

and Vulgar Latin, 224 n.,

225 nn., 226 n., 227 nn,,

228 nn., 229 nn. ; in Classical

Review, 238 n.
Classical Review, 238 n.
Claudian, De Bello Gildonieo,

xxxiii n., xxxv.
Clausula, 235 n. ; Quintilian on,

239 n. ; compound clausulae,

IV. GENERAL INDEX

285

237-41 ; irregular clausulae in
D.'s letters, 246-7.

Clement IV, bull of, 66 n.

Clement V, xliv ; his encyclicals
in favour of Emp. Henry VII,
44, 45, 45 n., 58 n., 216, 217;
supports Henry, 99 n., 216 ;
death at Koquemaure, 124,
126, 137 n., 221 ; typified by
Alcimus in his dealings with
Philip the Fair, 131 n. ; elec-
tion as Pope supported by
tbe Colonna faction, 139 n. ;
disastrous policy, 139 n. ;
restores Colonna Cardinals
sine titulo, 140 n., 215; bulls
of, 140 n. ; D.'s denunciation
of, in D. C, 142 n.

Cocchi collection of MSS., xliii.

Cod. Ambrosiano C. 145. Inf.
(Milan) (Epist. x), 160, 165.

Cod. 314 Capit. Veron. (Verona)
(Epist. x), 160, 165.

Cod. Lat. 78 Monac. (Munich)
(Epist. x), 160, 165.

Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8 (Florence)
(Epist. iii (iv), viii, ix), vi n.,
xviin., xliii n., xliv, xlv.xlvi,
liii, 19, 22, 121, 127, 148, 153.

Cod. Magliabechiano vi. 164 (Flor-
ence) (Epist. x), 160, 165.

Cod. Marc. Lat. xiv. 115 (Venice)
(Epist. vii), vin., x, 15 n., 82,
83, 87, 247-9, 251-2.

Cod. Mediceo (Carte Strozziane)
(Florence) (Epist. x), 160, 165.

Cod. Riccardiano 1050 (Florence)
(Epist. vii), 85.

Cod. Riccardianff 1304 (Florence)
(Epist. v), 43.

Cod. Riccardiano 2545 (Florence)
(Epist. vii), 85.

Cod. S. Pantaleo 8 (Rome) (Episi.
v, vii), x, liii, 15 n., 42, 42n.,
47, 82, 83, 84, 87, 88n., 247-52.

Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729 (Rome)
(Epist. i, ii, iv (iii), v, vi, vii,
vii*, vii**, vii***), vin., x,
xxvi, xlvii-ix, 1, li, liii, 1, 4,

11, 14, 15 n., 29, 33, 42,
47, 63, 66, 82, 83, 87, 106,
108, 112, 113, 116, 117, 247-
9, 251-2.

Coelesti Hierarchia, De ; see Diony-
sius.

Coelo, De, of Aristotle, Antiqua
Translatio of, 189 n.

Cognizances, family, D.'s refer-
ences to, 14 n.

Colonna, Jacopo, created Cardi-
nal by Nicbolas III, 140 n. ;
one of six Italian Cardi-
nals at death of Clement V,
124, 125, 137 n. ; one of
four Roman Cardinals, 137 n. ;
deprivation by Boniface VIII,
139 nn. ; restored sine titulo by
Clement V, 140 n., 215.

Colonna, Pietro, created Cardi-
nal by Nicholas IV, 140 n. ;
one of six Italian Cardinals at
death of Clement V, 124, 125,
137 n. ; one of four Roman
Cardinals, 137 n. ; deprivation
by Boniface VIII, 139 n. ; re-
stored sine tituh by Clement V,
140 n., 215.

Colonna, Sciarra, capture of
Boniface VIII at Anagni,
140 n. ; uncle of Jacopo and
Pietro Colonna, 140 n.

Colonnesi, 3n., 139 n. ; contest
of Boniface VIII with, 139 n.,
140 n.

Colophons of D.'s letters, 65,
83, 86, 100 n., 107 n., 113 n.,
119 nn.

Comedy and tragedy, distinc-
tion between, 176 n.

Commedia ; see Divina Commedia.

Commoror, with hinc inde, 131 n.

Comos, 175.

Compagni, Dino, Cronica, 3n.,
4n., 7n., 13n., 89n., 91 n.,
96n., 98 n., 108n., 109 n., 213-
20.

Compendio della Storia Political^
Verona ; see Cipolla.

286

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Conclave at Carpentras, 3n.,
124-6, 139 n., 142 n.; broken
up by Gascon party, 124-6.

Conclusio, one of recognized five
parts of letter, 176 n.

Concordance to Italian Prose
Works of Dante, ix n.

Concordance to Latin Works of
Dante, viii, ix n.

Confessiones, of St. Augustine,
134 n.

Consideratione, De ; see Bernard,
St.

Constance, Council of , xviii n.

Constantine, Emperor, legend of ,
50 n. ; Donation of, 50 n.

Constantinople, Emperor of,
114 n.

Consulte Fiorentine, 139 n., 155 n.,
157 n.

Contemplatione, De, otherwise
Beniamin maior ; see Fdchard of
St. Victor.

Conti Guidi ; see Guidi.

Convivio quoted, xiv, 7n., 15 n.,
16 n.. 17 n., 46 n., 52 n., 55n.,
57n.,67nn., 88 n., 89 n., 98 n.,
113 n., 114nn., 130 n., 133 n.,
141 n., 168 n., 169n., 170 n.,
175 n., 176 n., 177 n., 179 n.,
181 n., 182 n., 183 n., 184 n.,
186 nn., 187 n., 188 n., 189 n.,
190 n., 192 n., 194 n. ; D.'s
' division ' of poems of, 194 n.

Corbellini, A., Cino da Pistoja:
Amore ed Esilio, 21 n.

Coronation ceremony of Em-
peror, threefold, 216 n.

Counts Palatine, in Tuscany,
16 n.

Crecy, John of Luxemburgkilled
at, 94 n.

Creighton, M., in Macmillan^s
Magazine, 150; Historical Essays
and Reviews, 150.

Cremona, siege of, by Henry
VII, 86 n., 96 n., 108, 113 n.,
118 n., 218; capture of, by
Can Grande, 163, 223,

Cugnoni, G., ed. of F. Villani's
Comento al primo canto delt In-
ferno, xivn., xviin., 32 n.

Culmen, as title of honour,
114 n., 141 n.

Curio, C. S., Lucan's account of,
followed by D., 93 n.

Cursus, in D.'s letters, vii, viiin.,
15n.,22n., 23 n., 36nn., 48n.,
58n., 69nn., 72n., 73n., 74n.,
75 nn., 90 n., 107, 118 n.,
128 n., 129 n., 136 n., 138 n.,
139 n., 166 n., 169 n., 171 nn.,
234-47 ; in other Lat. works,
vii, 231-4, 238, 243 ; history
and nature of mediaeval cur-
sus, 224-31 ; cursus mixtus,
224-5 ; cursus planus, 227-8,
230 ; cursus iardus, 228, 230 ;
curms velox, 228-9, 231, 242-4,
245 n. ; D.'s uses of, 242-4;
alliterative velox, 242-3 ; con-
secutive velox, 243 ; types of,
used by D., 243-4 ; cursus
medius, 229-30, 23 1 ; < tyranny '
of the cursus, 244-5.

Cursus, It, nella Storia Letteraria e
nella Liiurgia ; see De Santi.

Cursus, The, in Mediaeval and Vul-
gar Latin ; see Clark.

Da Bonifazio VIII ad Arrigo VII ;
see Del Lungo.

Dal Secolo e dal Poema di Dante ;
see Del Lungo.

Damascus, John of, 135 n.

Dante Alighieri, correspondence
with Cecco d' Ascoli, xiv-xv ;
guest of Guido da Polenta at
Ravenna, xv, xxxv, 222, 223 ;
his handwriting, xix, xxviii ;
account of battle of Campal-
dino, xx, xxviii ; priorate, xx,
213 ; accused of favouritism
to the Bianchi, xxi ; secretary
to Scarpetta Ordelafti at Forli,
xxvi, 98 n., 107 n., 216 n. ;
embassy to Venice on behalf
of Guido da Polenta, xxxii,

IV. GENERAL INDEX

287

xxxv, 223 ; alleged letter to
Guido da Polenta, xxxii-vi,
211-13, 221 ; poetical corre-
spondence with G. del Virgi-
lio, xlv, 19 n. ; m6mber of
Council of Bianchi of Flor-
ence, 2-3, 5 n. ; joins rest of
exiles, 3n., 13; leaves them,
4n., 13, 215; references to
family cognizances, 14 n. ;
description of himself as ' ex-
ul immeritus', 15 n., 20, 44;
poetical correspondence with
Cino da Pistoja, 21, 23 n., 26,
27, 28-9, 31 ; sends canzone
to M. Malaspina, 31, 33, 36-
8; in Lunigiana, 31, 31 n.,
32, 33, 215; at Sarzana, 31,
32, 215; negotiations with
Bishop of Luni, 31, 215 ; in
Casentino, 32, 32 n., 76 n. ;
guest of Guido Novello di
Battifolle at Poppi, 76 n. ;
probably present at corona-
tion of Henry VII at Milan,
90 n., 217; his ironical ex-
ceptions, 134 n. ; sentences of
exile, 152, 156 n., 213, 214;
excluded from amnesties of
1316, 152, 222; at Verona,
164, 222 ; practice of coupling
examples from sacred and
profane literature, 167 n. ; de-
preciatory references to
women, 177 n. ; doctrine of
different degrees of divine
bountyand henceof perfection
in created things, 186 n. ;
theory as to transmission of
celestial influences, 187 n. ;
doctrine as to relation between
nobility of a body and its
place in the universe, 189 n. ;
interpretation of Nebuchad-
nezzar's words as to his
dream, 192 n. ; practice of
1 dividing ' the poems of V. N.
and Conv., 194 n. ; ignorant of
Greek characters, 195 n. ;

member of embassy to Boni-

face VIII, 213 ; at San Go-

denzo, 214; perhaps met

Petrarch at Pisa, 220 n. ;

death at Kavenna, 223 ; al-

leged boast as to rhymes of

D. C, 245 ; victim of ( tyranny '

of the cursus, 245.
D. A.'s lyrische Gedichte, ubersetzt

und erkldrt ; see Kannegiesser :

Witte.
D.A. y s lyrische Gedichteundpoetischer

Briefwechsel ; see Krafft.
D.A., seine Zeit, sein Leben und

seine Werke ; see Scartazzini.
D. A.'s prosaische Schriften mit

Ausnahme der Vita Nuova ; see

Kannegiesser.
Dante and Giovanni del Virgilio ;

see Wicksteed : Gardner.
Dante and his early Biographers ;

see Moore.
Dante and Mystics ; see Gard-

ner.
Dante as Philosopher, Patriot and

Poet; see Botta.
Dante Dictionary ; see Toynbee.
Dante e Firenze ; see Zenatti.
Dante e il ' Dedalo ' Petrarchesco ;

see Mascetta-Caracci.
Dante e la Lunigiana; see Novati.
Dante-Forschungen ; see Witte.
Dante in Germania ; see Scartaz-

zini.
Dante-Jahrbuch ; see Jahrbuch der

Deutschen Dante-Gesellschaft.
Dante Studies and Researches ; see

Toynbee.
Dante, Studies in ; see Moore.
Dante, Works of ; see Canzoniere,

Convivio, Divina Commedia, Eclo-

gae, Epistolae, Monarchia, De,

Vita Nuova, Vulgari Eloquentia,

De.
Dantis Alligherii Epistolae quae ex-

stant ; see Witte : Fraticelli.
Dares Phrygius, De Excidio Trojae,

56 n.
Decretalists, 135 nn.

288

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Degradare, degradaUo, degradatus,
139 n.

Degratiatus, 139 n.

Degrees of divine bounty, and
hence of perfection, in created
things, 186 n.

De Monarchia e De Vulgari Eloquen-
tia con le Epistolae e la Quaestio
de Aqua et Terra di D. A. ; see
Della Torre.

De Re Militari ; see Vegetius.

De Rebus Gestis Henrici VII; see
Mussato.

De Santi, A. , II Cursus nella Storia
Letteraria e nella Liturgia, 224 n.,
225n., 226n., 227nn., 228nn.,
229 nn., 247 n.

D'Euse, Jacques ; see John XXII.

Del Bene, Sennuccio, utilized
D.'s letter to M. Malaspina, 31.

Del Lungo, I., Dino Compagni e la
sua Cronica, 3 n., 4n., 12 n.,
109 n., 113 n., 156 n., 213 n.,
214nn., 215n., 216 nn., 217n.,
218nn., 219nn., 220n., 221n. ;
Dal Secolo e dal Poema di Dante,
139 n. ; DelV Esilio di Dante,
166 n., 213 n., 214 n., 218 n.,
222 n. ; Da Bonifazio VIII ad
Arrigo VII, 219 nn., 220 n.,
221 n.

Del Veltro Allegorico de 1 Ghibellini ;
see Troya.

Del Veltro AUegorico di Dante; see
Troya.

Della Lana, Jacopo, commentary
on D. C, xvii, 163, 163 n.,
195 n.

Della Fortuna di D. nel Cinquecento ;
see Barbi.

Della Torre, A., in Bull. Soc.
Dant. Ital., liin., livn., 149,
151 n., 152 n., 153 n., 154 n.,
155 n., 156 n., 157 n., 222 nn. ;
text of Epistolae, 2, 11, 20,
23 n., 30, 43,63, 84, 106, 112,
116, 122, 149, 156 n., 162;
diplomatic transcript of Epist.
ix, 149.

DelV Esilio di Dante ; see Del
Lungo.

Demetrius I, K. of Syria, type
of Philip the Fair, 131 n.

Describi, A.V. rendering of, 102 n.

Diabolus, 88 n., 89 n.

Dialogo del Forno ; see Tasso.

Dialogus ad Petrum Histrum ; sec
Bruni.

Dictamen, 225 ; D.'s use of, 225 n.

Dictatores, 225; D.'s useof, 225 n.

Difesa di Dante ; see Mazzoni.

Dino Compagni ; see Compagni.

Dino Compagni e la sua Cronica ;
see Del Lungo.

Dionisi, G. J., Serie di Aneddoti,
xliii, xliv, xlvi, 148, 149,
156 nn. ; Preparazione . . . alla
nuova edizione di D. A., xliv,
148, 149, 156 nn.

Dionysiusthe Areopagite, 135 n. ;
De Coelesti Hierarchia, 135 n.,
184 n.

Discoli, 11 n.

Disgratia, disgratiatas, 139 n.

Displacement of words in MSS.,
6 n., 15 n., 138 n.

Diurnus, 35 n., 39 n.

Divina Commedia, quoted, 4 n. , 7 n. ,
8n., 12, 14n., 15n., 16n., 17n.,
31 n., 36 n., 46 n., 48 n., 49 n.,
52nn., 54n., 56n., 57 n., 58n.,
67 nn., 68 n., 69 n., 70n., 71 n.,
73 nn., 75 nn., 88 n., 89 nn.,
90 n.. 91 n., 92 n., 93 nn.,
96nii., 97 n., 98 nn., 109 n.,
110 n., 113 n., 114 n., 129 nn.,
130 nn., 131n., 133n., 134nn.,
135 nn., 137 n., 141 n., 142 n.,
167 nn., 177 n., 180 n., 182 n.,
184 n., 185 n., 186 nn., 187 n.,
189 nn., 190 nn., 191 nn.,
192nn., 193 nn., 194n., 195 n..
221 n. ; alleged dedications of
the three Cantiche, xxxviii,
32-3 ; date of completion of
Paradiso, 163, 223.

— parallel passages in Epistolae
and D.C.: —

IV. GENERAL INDEX

289

Epist. i. 24 : Par. xiii. 105.
Epist. i. 25 : Purg. xxv. 17-18 ;

Par. iv. 60.
Epist. i. 30 : Par. iv. 121-3.
^pw«. i. 48: Purg. vi. 149-

51.
Epist. i. 51 : Inf. xiv. 1.
JEfcristf. ii. 10 : Inf. xvii. 52-73 ;

xxvii. 41-50.
Epist. ii. 22 : Par. x. 121.
Epist. ii. 24 : Par. xxviii. 122.
Epist. ii. 36-7 : Par. xvii. 58-

60.
Epist. v. i#. 2 : Inf. ii. 20.
Jfcrisf. v. 20 : Par. x. 138.
Epist. v. 40 : Jw/. xv. 75-8 ;

xxvi. 60.
Epist. v. 41-2 : Purg. ix. 20-9.
Epist. v. 46 : Purg. xix. 19 ;

xxx i. 45.
Epist. v. 47 : Inf. xxvi. 114-

15.
Epist. v. 71 : Par. xiii. 37-9 ;

xxvi. 115-17 ; xxxii. 122-3.
Epist. v. 104-5 : Par. v. 10-

22
Epist. v. 112-13 : Par. vi. 80-1.
^isf. vi. 10: Par. xi. 119.
Jirist vi. 10-13: Purg. vi. 76-7.
.Efcris*. vi. 21 : In/. i. 117.
Epist. vi. 50 : Purg. xii. 41-2.
.EpisJ. vi. 59 : Purg. x. 80-1.
Epist. vi. 83-4 : Par. vi. 109-

10.
Ppis^. vi. 105 : Par. iii. 26-7.
Epist. vi. 106: Pwra.xxxi. 61-3.
Ejris*. vi. 123: In/. xv. 61-2.
Epist. vi. 132 : Par. vi. 73.
j£jris£. vii. 3-4 : Par. xxx. 98.
Epist. vii. 12 : Par. xix. 101-2.
.Efrristf. vii. 16-17 : Purg. xxii.

70-2.
Epist. vii. 34-5 : Par. xvii. 33.
Epist. vii. 51 : Purg. x. 74.
Iftrisi. vii. 65 : Inf. xxviii. 98-9.
Epist. vii. 101-2 : Inf. xxi. 21.
EpisL vii. 102 : Inf. xxviii. 75.
Epist. vii. 114-15 : Inf. xxx.

37-41.

Epist. vii. 115-19 : Purg. xvii.

34-9.
Ejpisfc vii. 121-2 : Inf. xv. 76-8.
Epist. vii*. 6-7 : Par. ii. 65 ;

viii. 46 ; xxiii. 92 ; xxx.

120.
Epist. vii*. 13-14, 19 : Par. iv.

121-3.
Epist. vii**. 5-6 : Par. xxxiii.

55-6.
Epist. vii**. 7 : Inf. xxix. 2 ;

Par. xxvii. 3.
Epist. viii. 18-20 : Par. xviii.

131-2.
Epist. viii. 30-1 : Purg. xvi.

67-78.
Epist. viii. 33 : Far. xxiv. 59.
I?jris£. viii. 34-5 : Inf. xvii.

107 ; Purg. iv. 72 ; xxix.

118-20 ; Par. xvii. 3 ; xxxi.

125.
Epist. viii. 39 : Purg. xxxii.

119.
Epist. viii. 50-1 : Purg. x. 55-7.
Epist. viii. 71 : Par. xi. 99.
Epist. viii. 82 : Pwrgr. xxii. 71 .
JEpisf. viii. 83-4 : Inf. xxi. 41 ;

xxix. 125.
Epist. viii. 87-8: Par. ix. 133-5.
J^pis^. viii. 88 : Par. xii. 83.
Epist. viii. 107 : Purg. xvi.

106-8.
JJp«'s^. viii. 128: Inf. xxxi. 115-

17 ; Par. xxvii. 61-2.
.Eferis*. x. 1-4 : Par. xvii. 85-90.
Epist. x. 5 : Par. xvii. 91-3.
Upistf. x. 173 : Purg. xxix. 26.
Epist. x. 271 : Par. xxiv. 133-

8; xxvi. 25-6, 46-7.
Epist. x. 309 : Par. x. 115-17.
Epist. x. 313-14 : Inf. iii. 5-6.
Epist. x. 327-34 : Par. xxxi.

22-3.
Epist. x. 338-42 : Par. i. 122 ;

ii. 112 ; xxx. 39.
Epist. x. 344-5 : Purg. xxvi. 63.
Epist. x. 355-6: Pwra. xxv. 89;

Par. vii. 74 ; viii. 2-3 ; xix.

90 ; xxix. 29.

290

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Epist x. 395-8 : Tnf. xxxiv.
34; Purg. xii. 25-6; Par.
xix. 46-8.

Epist. x. 407 ; Purg. xviii. 49-
50.

Epist. x. 420-1 : Par. x. 131-2.

Epist. x. 422 : Par. xxxi. 94 ;
xxxii. 1.

Epist. x. 422-3 : Par. xxxii. 35.

.Epistf. x. 466-7 : Par. xxviii.
106-11 ; xiv. 40-2. .

Epist. x. 475 : Par. xxvi. 17.
Doctrina Christiana, De ; see Augus-

tine.
Donniges, G., Acta Henrici VII,

Imperatoris Romanorum, 88 n.
Donati, Foresino di Manetto,

brother of Gemma Donati,

153, 154 n.
Donati, Gemma, D.'s wife, 153,

154.
Donati, Niccolo, D.'s nephew,

153, 154 n.
Donati, Teruccio di Manetto,

D.'s brother-in-law, prob.

addressee of Epist. ix, 153.
Donation of Constantine, 50 n.
Doni, A. F., Prose Antiche di

Dante, Petrarcha, et Boccaccio,

xxxii, xxxv, xxxvi, xl, xlvi,

84 ; prints alleged letter of

D. to Guido da Polenta, xxxii-

vi, xlvi ; La Zucca del Doni,

xxxv, 84.
Donoratico, Gherardesca di,

supposed to be Countess of

Battifolle of Epist. vii*, vii**,

vii***, 109 n.
Du Cange, 6n., 67 n., 74 n.,

138 n., 139 n., 155 n.
Durandus, "Wilhelmus, Speculum

Iuris, 135 n.

Eagle, Imperial, 70 n., 89 n.
Ebrardus Bethuniensis ; see Ev-
rard.

Ecerinis ; see Mussato.
Echtheit der drei KaiserbriefeDantes;
see Wagner.

Eclectic Review, 150.
Eclipsis, genitive of, 138 n.
Eclogae (D.'s Eclogues), 34 n.,

163, 223.
Edinburgh Review, 148, 149.
Elementarium Doctrinae Rudimen-

tum ; see Papias.
Elizabeth, Q. of Bohemia, 94 n.
Elogium, 67 n.

Eloquenza Italiana; see Fontanini.
Eloquium, 67 n.
Emperor, Koman, titles of, 49 n.,

87 n. ; typified by the Sun,

137 n. ; threefold coronation
ceremony of, 216 n.

Empire, Roman, typified by the
Moon, 58 n., 69 n., 78 n.

Epigramma, 170 n.

Epistolae (D.'s Letters), quoted,
6n., 7n., 8n., 14 n., 15 n.,
17n., 22 n., 23 n., 25n., 34nn.,
46 n., 47 nn., 49 nn., 52 n.,
53 n., 54 nn., 56 n., 58 n.,
65 n., 67 nn., 68 nn., 69 n.,
70 n., 71 n., 75n., 76 n., 87 nn.,
89 n., 92 n., 93 n., 95 n.,
97nn.,99nn., 100 nn., 108 n.,
109nn., 110 nn., 113 nn.,
114 nn., 118 nn., 119n., 127 n.,
134 n., 135 n., 136 n.,, 137 n.,

138 nn., 139 n., 140 n., 141 n.,
165 n., 166 n., 182 n., 184 n.,
192 n. ; see Letters of Dante.

Epistolario di Cola di Rienzo ; see

Gabrielli.
Epistolario di Coluccio Salutati ; see

Novati.
Epistolarium, seu de arte conflciendi

epistolas opus; see Filelfo,

G. M.
Epistole di D. A. edite e inedite ; see

Torri.
Eructuo, 22 n.

Essays on Petrarch ; see Foscolo.
Ethics of Aristotle, Antiqua Trans-

latio of, 56 n., 169 n.
Eugenius III, St. Bernard's De

Consideratione dedicated to,

191 n.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

291

Europe, represented by old geo-
, graphers as triangle, 91 n.
Evrard de Bethune, Graecismus,

16n.,92n., 195 n.
Exordium, one of recognized five

parts of letter, 176 n.
Explanatio Nominum, interpreta-

tion of Scripture names, 95 n.
Ezekiel, patristic application to

Lucifer of his prophecy against

Prince of Tyre, 189 n.

Faba, G., Summa Dictaminis, 5 n.

Faggiuola, Uguccione della, al-
leged dedication of Inferno to,
xxxviii ; letter of Frate Ilario
to, xliv, xlv, 19 n. ; defeats
Tuscan Guelfs at Montecatini,
222 ; death, 223.

Falterona, Mt., source of Arno
in, 76 n.

Ferrara, Academy of Intrepidi at,
xli.

Ficino, Marsilio, Italian trans.
of Be Monarchia, xliii, 43 n. ;
Italian trans. of Epist. v, and
Epist. vii, attributed to, 42,
43 n., 82, 84 n., 249.

Fiesolans, descentof Florentines
from, 75 n.

Fiesole, destruction by Komans,
75 n.

Filattiera, Gherardino da,
Bishop of Luni, 134 n.

Filelfo, Francesco, xxvii.

Filelfo, G. M., account of D.'s
letters, xxvii-xxxi ; opinion
that D.'s Beatrice was a
mythical personage, xxviii,
xxxi n. ; fabrications, xxix,
xxx ; Epistolarium, seu de arte
conflciendi epistolas opus, xxx.

Finibus, De ; see Cicero.

Florence, Bianchi and Neri of,
see Bianchi : Neri ; besieged
by Emp. Henry VII, xxiv,
xxv, 220 ; Niccolo da Prato at,
3-4, 214 ; exiles' attempt on,
from Lastra, 4 n., 12, 13, 215 ;

compared to sick woman, 8n. ;
foundation of, by Romans,
75 n., 98 n. ; reputed destruc-
tion of, by Attila or Totila,
75 n., 98 n. ; Guelfs of, 89 n.,
98 n., 99 n., 100 n. ; compared
to vixen, viper, sick sheep, 97 ;
typified by Myrrha and Amata,
97-8; and (perhaps) by Go-
liath, 100 ; built on model of
Rome, 98 n. ; Latin title of,
166 n.

Florentine Friend ; see Friend
in Florence.

Florentine MSS. of D.'s letters ;
see Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8 ; Cod.
Magliabechiano vi. 164 ; Cod.
Mediceo ; Cod. Riccardiano.

Florentines, D.'s letter to (Epist.
vi), xxii, xxiii, xxiv, xxvn.,
1, 1, 15 n., 20, 44, 63-81, 106,
218, 245 ; insolent reply to
Henry's ambassadors, xxvi,
98 n., 216 ; their fortifications
against Henry VII, 70 n.,
217; descent from Fiesolans,
75 n. ; resistance to Henry
VII, 89 n., 99n., 100n.,216-17.

Fontanini, Giusto, Eloquenza
Italiana, xxxvn., xlv.

Forli, D. at, xxvi, 98 n., 107 n. ,
216 n.

Foscolo, Ugo, in Edinburgh Re-
view, 148, 149 ; Essays on Pe-
trarch, 148, 150.

Francis, St., termed ' archiman-
drita' by D., 133 n.

Frankfort, Henry VII elected
Emperor at, 44.

Fraticelli, P., Opere minori di
D.A., viin., xxxiin., xxxvin.,
liin., 1, 2, 11, 19, 20, 28 n.,
29, 30, 42, 43, 63, 71 n., 83,
85, 121, 122, 123 n., 149, 161,
162, 183 n., 249 n. ; Dantis
Aligherii Epistolae quae exstant,
19, 20, 43, 83, 85, 121, 122,
148, 149, 161, 162; Vita di
Dante, 31 n.

2

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Frederick of Austria, disputes
Imperial crown with Louis of
Bavaria, 137 n.

Frederick I (Barbarossa), Em-
peror, destruction of Milan
and Spoleto, 73 n., 245.

Frederick II, Emperor, 34 n.,
114 nn., 11 7n., 118 n. ; defeat
at siege of Parma, 72-3 n.

Frederick II of Aragon, K. of
Sicily, 46 n. ; alleged dedica-
tion of Paradiso to, xxxviii.

Free will, 130 n.

Frequentative forms, in medi-
aeval texts, 47 n.

Friend in Florence, D.'s letter
to (Epist. ix), xvi, xvii, xliii,
xliv, xlv, xlvi, livn., 19, 121,
148-59, 222.

Frustatorius, 74 n.

Fugger, Raimund, xlviii.

Fugger, Ulrich, former owner
of the Vatican MS. of D.'s
letters, xlviii-ix ; leaves his
MSS. to Heidelberg Library,
xlviii.

Gabrielli, A., Epistolario di Cola
di Rienzo, 46 n., 123 n.

Gabrielli, Cante de', sentences
D. to banishment, 152, 213,
214 ; elected Podesta of
Florence, 213.

Gaetani faction, at election of
Clement V, 139 n. ; at Con-
clave at Carpentras, 141 n.

Gaetani, Francesco, one of six
Italian Cardinals at death of
Clement V, 124, 125, 137 n. ;
one of four Eoman Cardinals,
1 37 n. ; created by Boniface
VIII, 141 n. ; member of
Transteverine faction, 141 n.

Galleria di Minerva, xli, xlii,
161.

Gardner, E. G., 5n. ; D. and
Mystics, 191 nn., 192n.; D. and
Giovanni del Virgilio, 223 nn.

Gascon party, at Conclave at

Carpentras, 124, 139 n. ; their
outrage on Italian Cardinals,
124-6, 221.

Gelli, G. B., Capricci del Bottaio,
xxxvi ; Letture sopra la D. C,
xxxvi-vii, xlii.

Gemma Gemmarum, 173 n.

Generosa, abbreviation of, in
MSS., 156 n.

Genesis, genitive of, 138 n.

Genitives of words of Greek
origin, 138 n.

Genoa, Henry VII at, 96 n.,
219 ; death of Empress Mar-
garetat, 108 n., 219.

Genova, Giovanni da ; see Gio-
vanni.

Gherardino da Filattiera, Bishop
of Luni, 134 n.

Ghibelline party among the
Cardinals, 139 n., 141 n. ; Can
Grande Captain General of
Ghibelline League in Lom-
bardy, 163.

Gigli, O., Studi sulla D.C. di
Galileo Galilei, Vincenzo Borghini,
ed altri, xxxixn.

Giornale Dantesco, 33 n.

Giovanni da Genova, Catholicon,
7n., 22 n., 35 n., 47 nn., 51 n.,
52 n., 67 n., 70 n., 71 n., 74 n.,
92 n., 132 n., 138 n., 173 n.,
176 n., 195 n.

Giovanni da Serravalle, state-
ment that Dante wasa student
at Oxford, xviii n. ; commen-
tary and translation of D. C,
xviii n.

Giovanni del Virgilio ; see Vir-
gilio, G. del.

Giuliani, G. B., Opere Latine di
D. A., xxxii n., liin., 1, 11,19,
29, 42, 63, 83, 106, 112, 116,
117 n., 121, 128 n., 133 n.,
149, 162, 183 n., 186 n., 245;
Metodo di commentare la Com-
media di D. A., 461, 162 ; inter-
polations in text of Epist. x,
183 n., 184 n.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

293

Gloriosa, abbreviation of, in

MSS., 156 n.
Glossarium Mediae et Inflmae

Latinitatis ; see Du Cange.
Goliath, type of Florence, or of

K. Robert of Naples, 100 n.
Got, Bertrand de, nephew of

Clement V, 124; leader of

Gascon party in their outrage

on Italian Cardinals at Con-

clave at Carpentras, 124, 125.
Graecismus ; see Evrard de

Bethune.
Grandgent, C. H., The Ladies of

Dante's Lyrics, 30.
Gratiosa, abbreviation of, in MSS.,

156 n.
Grazzini, G. C, xli.
Greek characters, D. ignorant of,

195 n.
Greene, G. W., trans. of Epist.

vii, 85.
Gregory the Great, 224, 225 n. ;

chief works, 134 n.
Gregory IX, bulls of, 34 n.,

114 nn., 117 n., 118 n.
Gregory XV, Heidelberg MSS.

presented to, byMaximilian I,

xlviii.
Gubbio, Busone da ; see Busone.
Guelfs, of Florence, 89 n., 98 n.,

99 n., 100 n. ; Guelf party

among Cardinals, 141 n.
Guidi, Conti, 14 n., 16 n. ; Counts

Palatine in Tuscany, 16 n.
Guido Cavalcanti, exiled to

Sarzana, xxi ; death, xxi,

213.
Guido da Pisa, commentary on

D. C, xvii, 163, 163 n., 174 n.,

179 n.
Guido da Polenta, alleged letter

of D. to, xxxii-vi, xlvi, li,

211-13, 221; D.'s host at

Ravenna, xxxii, xxxv, 222,

223 ; D.'s embassy to Venice

on behalf of, xxxii-v, 223.
Guido da Romena, D/s letter to

(Epist. ii), li, 1, 11-18, 20, 29,

106, 215 ; son of Aghinolfo da

R., 12, 14 n., 17 n.
Guido delle Colonne, Historia

Trojana, 56 n.
Guido Novello da Polenta ; see

Guido da Polenta.
Guido Novello di Battifolle ; see

Battifolle.
Guy de Boulogne, Cardinal,

Hannibal, siege of Saguntum,
72 n. ; Petrarch's echo of D.'s
reference to, 123 ; defeated at
Zama by Scipio Africanus
Major, 141 n.

Hauvette, H., Notes sur des auto-
graphes de Boccace d la Bibl.
Laurentienne, xviin.,xlv, 19 n.,
31 n.

Heberden, C. B., ix ; proposed
emendations in Epist. i, 6 n. ;
in Epist. viii, 121 n., 129 n.,
131 n., 141 n.

Hecker, O., Boccaccio-Funde,
xvin.

Heidelberg, capture of,by Tilly,
xlviii ; MSS. from, transferred
to the Vatican, xlviii.

Helen, rape of, 56 n.

Heliotropium, 47 n., 48 n.

Henry VII, Emperor, D.'s letter
to (Epist. vii), xv, xvi, xxii,
xxiii, xxxii, xl, xlvi, 1, 1, 15 n.,
20, 44, 49 n., 63, 64, 65, 82-
105, 218, 247-52 ; advent into
Italy, xxii, xxiv, 1, 44, 70 n.,
89 n., 217 ; besieges Florence,
xxiv, xxv, 220 ; coronation at
Rome, 3n., 87 n., 216n., 220 ;
at Aix-la-Chapelle, 44, 216;
account of, 44-5 ; Clement V's
encyclicals in favour of, 44,
45, 45 n., 58 n., 216, 217;
crosses Alps to Susa and Turin,
45, 217; besieges Brescia,
85 n., 96n., 218 ; reduces Cre-
mona, 86 n., 96 n., 113 n.,
118 n., 218; title of 'semper

294

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Augustus', 87 n. ; coronation
at Milan, 90 n., 134 n., 216 n.,
217 ; at Pavia and G-enoa,
96 n. ; pacifies Lodi, 113 n. ;
sends embassy to Clement V,
216 ; sends ambassadors to
Italian cities, 216 ; defied by
Florentines, 216, 219 ; at Lau-
sanne, 217 ; sends embassy
to Florence, 219 ; at Genoa,
219; at Pisa, 220; reaches
Rome, 220 ; dies at Buoncon-
vento, 221 ; buried at Pisa,
221.

Hercules, sack of Troy by, 56 n.

Heresis, genitive of, 138 n.

Hesione, rape of, 56 n.

Heyse, Th., discovers Vatican
MS. of D.'s letters, xlvii, xlix,

Hillard, K., trans. of Epist. x,
162.

Histoire des Doctrines grammaticales
au Moyen Age ; see Thurot.

Historia adv. Paganos ; see Orosius.

Historia Langobardorum, 52 n.

Historia Trojana, 56 n.

Historiarum ab inclinato Romano
Imperio Decades ; see Biondo.

Hogan, J. F., Life and Works of
D. A., 150.

Holy Roman Empire ; see Bryce.

Honorius III, bulls of, 34 n.,
114 n., 117 n., 118 n.

Honorius IV, bull of, 16 n.

Howell, A. G. Ferrers, trans. of
Vulg. Eloq., 215 n.

Hungary, King of, alleged letter
of D. to, xxix.

Ilario, Frate, letter to Uguccione

della Faggiuola, xliv, xlv,

19 n.
Imola, Benvenuto da ; see Ben-

venuto.
Imperator, 87 n.
Inferno ; see Divina Commedia.
Influences, Celestial, means of

transmission, 187 n.
Inita, 51 n.

Innocent III, bulls of, 34 n.,

114 n., 117 n.
Innocent IV, bull of, 16 n. ;

a Decretalist, 135 n.
Insignia of Cardinals, 140 n.
Intelligences, Celestial, trans-

mission of influence of, 183 n.
Intentum, 23 n.
Intrepidi, Academy of, at Ferrara,

xli.
Invicem, In, 72 n.
Invidiosus, 49 n.

Italian Cardinals ; see Cardinals.
Italy, Princes and Peoples of,

D.'s letter to {Epist. v), xlii,

xliii, xlv, li, 1, 15 n., 20, 42-

62, 64, 82.

Jacopo della Lana; see Della
Lana.

Jacopus de Voragine, 49 n.

Jahrbuch der Deutschen Dante-Gesell-
schaft, 171 nn.

Jerome, St., 74 n.

John XXII (Jacques d'Euse),
Pope in succession to Clement
V, 126, 142 n. ; D.'s denuncia-
tion of, in D. C, 142 n.

John XXIII, Bruni secretary to,
xviiin.

John of Damascus, 135 n.

John of Luxemburg, K. of Bo-
hemia, 94 n. ; badge and mot-
to, 94 n. ; killed at CrScy, 94 n.

Judas, reminiscence of Vulgate
account of his suicide, 98 n.

Judas Maccabaeus, 131 nn.

Justinian, Pandects, 67 n.

Kannegiesser, K. L., D.A.'spro-
saische Schriften, vii n. , liv n. ,
2, 11, 20, 30, 43, 64, 85, 106,
112, 116, 122, 150, 162 ; trans.
of D.'s lyrical poems, xlixn.,
1, 29.

Ker, W. P., x.

Koch, T. W., Catalogue of Cornell
Dante Collection, 43 n., 85 n. ,
148 n., 150 n.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

295

Krafffc, C, trans. of D.'s lyrical

poems, 30.
Kraus, F. X., Dante, sein Leben

und sein Werk, 44, 85, 122.

Lana, Jacopo della ; see Della

Lana.
Landino, Cristoforo, notice of

D. in his commentary on

B. C, xxxi.
Langobardorum Historia, 52 n.
Lanzoni, G., xli, xlii.
Laqmedon, repulse of Argonauts

from Simois, 56 n. ; rape of

his daughter, Hesione, 56 n.
Lardner, D., Cabinet Cyclopaedia,

150.
Lastra, exiles* attempt on Flo-

rence from, 4 n., 12, 13, 215.
Latham, C. S., Translation of

Dante's Eleven Letters, viin.,

livn., 2, 12, 20, 30, 44, 64,

71 n., 85, 122, 150, 162.
Latialis, 54 n., 246.
Latini, Brunetto, xxxviii-ix ;

Tresor, 56 n., 136 n.
Latinus, father-in-lawof Aeneas,

95 n. ; his followers typify

supporters of the Empire,

95 n. ; husband of Amata and

father of Lavinia, 98 n.
Latrare, 192 n.
Laurentian MS. of D.'s letters ;

see Cod. Laurent. xxix. 8.
Lausanne, Henry VII receives

Italian envoys at, 44.
Lavinia, daughter of Latinus

and Amata, wedded to Aeneas,

98 n.
Lazzari, Pietro, xlii, xlv, li ;

Miscellaneorum ex MSS. libris

Bibliothecae Coll. Rom. Soc. Jesu,

xliii n., 43.
Lectura Dantis : Opere Minori di

Bante ; see Novati.
Lectures on the History of the Papal

Chancery ; see Poole.
Legenda Aurea, 49 n., 50 n.
Legenda Sanctorum, 50 n.

Leone Allacci e la Palatina di
Heidelberg ; see Mazzi.

Letters of Dante, numeration of
lines in Latin fcexts of, viii-ix,
254; history of,xiii-liv; MSS.
of, vn., xlvii-ix, li, liii, 1, 11,
15 n., 19, 29, 42, 63, 82-3,
106, 112, 116, 121, 148, 160-1,
247-9, 251 ; editions of, v n.,
xlv-lii, 1, 2, 11, 19-20, 29-30,
42-3, 63, 83-4. 106, 112, 116,
121-2, 148-9, 161 ; translations
of, livn., 2, 11-12, 20, 30,
43-4, 51 n., 63-4, 84-5, 106-
7, 112, 116, 122, 149-50, 162;
spurious titles of, 12, 30,
127 n. ; cursus in, see Cursus ;
numeration of, 21 n., 106 n. ;
dating of, 65, 86, 108, 116-17 ;
colophons of, 65, 83, 86, 100 n.,
107 n., 113 n., 119 nn. ; see
Epistolae.

Lodi, pacification of, by Henry
VII, 113 n.

Lombards, their Scandinavian
origin, 52 nn.

Lombardy, D.'s description of,
96 n. ; rebellious cities of, 108 ;
Ghibelline League in, 163.

Longfellow, H. W., trans. of
B. C, 85.

Longhi, Guglielmo de', one of
six Italian Cardinals at death
of Clement V, 124, 125, 137 n.;
native of Bergamo, 137 n.

Longobards, descent of Lom-
bards from, 52 nn.

Louis of Bavaria, disputes Im-
perial crown with Frederick
of Austria, 137 n. ; elected
Emperor as Louis IV, 221.

Lowell, J. K., in New American
Cyclopaedia, 150; in FifihAnnual
Report of Cambridge (U.S.A.)
Bante Society, 150.

Lucan, his account of Curio
followed by D., 93 n.

Lucca, city of, letter to K. Robert
of Sicily, 88 n.

296

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Lucifer, patristic application to,
of Ezekiel's prophecy against
the Prince of Tyre, 189 n.

Luni, Bishop of, D.'s negotia-
tions with, 31, 215 ; Gherar-
dino da Filattiera, 134 n.

Lunigiana, D. in, 31, 31 n., 32,
33, 215.

Luxemburg, Henry of; see
Henry VII.

Luxemburg, John of ; see John.

Lyons, election of John XXII at,
126.

Macmillan's Magazine, 1 50.

Macri-Leone, F., ed. of Boccac-
cio's Vita di Dante, xvi nn.,
xxxviiin., 32 n., 33 n., 151 n.

Magliabechian MS. of Epist. x ;
see Cod. Magliabechiano.

Magnae Derivationes ; seeUguccione
da Pisa.

Magnalia, 95 n.

Magnificentia, as title of honour,
34 n., 166 n.

Malaspina, Currado I, 32.

Malaspina, Currado II, 31 n., 32.

Malaspina, Franceschino, D.'s
host at Sarzana, 31, 32.

Malaspina, Moroello, D.'s letter
to (Epist. iv (iii)), xvii, li, 1,
11, 21, 29-41, 63, 216; alleged
dedication of Purgatorio to,
xxxviii, 33 ; D. sends canzone
to, 31, 33, 36-8 ; identity of,
32, 33 n. ; < il vapor di Valdi-
magra ', 32 ; marries Alagia
de' Fieschi, 32 ; acc. to Boc-
caccio, D. while his guest
decides to continue D. C, 32.

Malaspini, D.'s relations with,
31, 31 nn., 32, 215; Spino
Fiorito branch of, 134 n.

Malignantes, 93 n.

Mandagot, Guillaume de, Colon-
nesi candidatefor Papacy, 124.

Manetti, Giannozzo, Vita Dantis,
xxiii-v, 64, 65 ; possessed MS.
of D.'s letters, xxv-vi, xlviii.

Manfredi da Giovagallo, father

of Moroello Malaspina, 32.
Marcian MS. of D.'s letters ; see

Cod. Marc. Lat. xiv. 115.
Margaret of Brabant, Empress,

wife of Henry VII, letters of

Countess of Battifolle to ; see

Battifolle ; her title of ' Au-

gusta', 49 n., 87 n. ; account

of, 108 n. ; death at Genoa,

108 n., 219.
Maro, D.'s use of, for Virgilius,

90 n., 246.
Martinus Dumiensis, Arch-

bishop of Braga, his Fortuito-

rum Remedia attributed to

Seneca, 25 n.
Mascetta-Caracci, L., Dante e il

l Dedalo' Petrarchesco, 107 n.,

120 n.
Mass, Canon of, quoted, 5 n.
Massi, — , attempts to forestall

Witte's ed. of D.'s letters, xlix.
Matthew the Florentine, scribe

of MS. of Passionale, 50 n.
Maximilian I of Bavaria, pre-

sents Heidelberg MSS. to

Gregory XV, xlviii.
Mazzi, C, Leone Allacci e la Pala-

tina di Heidelberg, xlviii n.
Mazzoni, G., in Bull. Soc. Dant.

Ital, 149 n., 151 n.
Mazzoni, J., xxxviii ; Difesa di

Dante, xxxix, xl.
Medicean MS. of Epist. x ; see

Cod. Mediceo.
Medici, Pietro de', xxvii.
Mehus, Abate, Vita Ambrosii

Camaldulensis, xliv.
Mellini, Domenico, xl.
Memorie della Reale Accademia delle

Scienze di Torino, liii n., 160 n.,

162.
Memorie per servire alla Vita di

Dante ; see Pelli.
Mende, Bishop of; see Duran-

dus.
Mercury, identification of, with

Anubis, 94 n.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

29*

Mestica , G. , Le Rime di F. Petrarca,
123 n.

Metamorphosis, genitive of, 138 n.

Metaphors, bold, used by D., 73 n.

Metaphysics of Aristotle, Antiqua
Translatio of, 179 n. ; Eng.
trans. by W. D. Ross, 179n.

Metodo di commentare la Commedia
di D. A. ; see Giuliani.

Meyer, W., Fragmenta Burana,
75 n.

Milan, destruction by Barba-
rossa, 73 n., 245 ; coronation
of Henry VII at, 90n., 134n.,
216 n., 217; Henry VII at,
86 n., 91 n., 95 n., 108, 113 n.,
217.

Milanese MS. of Epist. x ; see
Cod. Ambrosiano.

Misserini, M., trans. of Epist. x,
162.

Modern Language Review, v, vii,
xxv n., lin., lii n., liii,
iivn., 2, 11, 20, 22 n., 23 n.,
30, 43, 46 n., 51 n., 56 n., 63,
64, 65,84, 106, 107, 112, 116,
118 n., 122, 149, 150, 162,
166n., 224 n., 249, 250, 251 nn.

Mombritius, Sanctuarium, 50 n.

Monarchia, De, Filelfo's fabrica-
tion of beginning of, xxx ;
Ficino's trans. of, xliii, 43 n. ;
Witte's ed. of, xlviin., 1 n. ;
Vatican MS. of, xlvii, 1, 1 n. ;
quoted, x, 15 n., 23 n., 46 n.,
49 n., 52 n., 54 n., 56n., 57 n.,
58 n., 67 nn., 68 n., 73 n.,
78 n., 90 n., 92 nn., 114 n.,
133 n., 134 n., 137 n.., 139 n.,
141 n., 172 n., 173 n., 179 n.,
182 n., 187 n., 188 n., 193 n. ;
cursus in, 229 n., 231-3, 234n.,
238, 243.

Montaperti, Henry VII at, 221 ;
defeat of Guelfs at, in 1260,
221 n.

Montecatini, defeat of Tuscan
Guelfsat, 154 n., 222.

Montepulciano, F. da, Vatican

MS. of D.'s letters originally
executedfor, xlvii ; bequeaths
his books to Capitular Library
of Montepulciano, xlvii.

Montgomery, J., Life of Dante,
150.

Moon, as type of Roman Empire,
58 n., 69 n., 78 n.

Moore, E., ix, 160 n. ; D. and
his Early Biographers, xviii n.,
xxx n. ; Tutte le Opere di D.A.,
1, 11, 19, 29, 42-3, 63, 83,
122, 149, 162; Studies in D.,
xviin., lin., livn., 15n., 71n.,
75 n.. 76 n., 91 n., 92 n., 106,
107, 108n., 110n., 112, 113n.,
114 n., 116, 118 n., 128 n.,
138 n., 142 n., 163, 164 n.,
165 n., 167 n., 168 n., 169nn.,
175 n., 177 n., 182 nn., 185 n.,
186n., 187n., 188nn., 189nn.,
192 n., 194 nn., 222 n. ; in
Modern Language Review, lin.,
106, 107, 112, 116, 118n.

Moreni, Domenico, xxix.

Moschini,Abate G. A., xlvi, 82 n.

Moutier, I., ed. of Cronica di G.
Villani, 43, 85.

Mt. Cenis, Henry VII crosses, 45.

Mugello, warfare in, 7 n., 214.

Munich MS. of Epist. x ; see Ood.
Lat. 78 Monac.

Murano, library at ; see Biblio-
teca Muranese.

Muratori,L. A., Rerum Italicarum
Scriptores, xli n., 82 n.

Murviedro (anc. Saguntum),
72 n.

Mussato, A., De Rebus Gestis
Henrici VII, xl, 82 n. ; Ecerinis,
165 n.

Muzzi, Luigi, Tre Epistole Latine
di D. A. restituite a piu vera
lezione, liin., 19, 121, 122,
133 n., 138 n., 148, 149, 156 n.

Myrrha, type of Florence, 97 n.

Mystical writers in Dante,
191 n., 192 n.

Mystics, D. and ; see Gardner.

298

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Nadab, 131 nn.

Narratio, one of recognized five
parts of letter, 176 n.

Naso, D.'s use of, for Ovidius,
246.

Nebuchadnezzar, D.'s interpre-
tation of his words as to his
dream, 192 n.

Negotium, 169 n., 178 n.

Negroni, Carlo, ed. of Gelli's
Letiure sopra la D. C, xxxvii n.

Nemesis, temple of, at Rhamnus,
25 n.

Neri, leaders banished from
Florence, xxi, 213; expelled
from Pistoja, 21, 213; their
return, 21, 215 ; their cause
espoused by Charles of Valois,
213, 214.

New American Cyclopaedia, 150.

Niccolo da Prato, D.'s letter to
(Epist. i), li, 1-10, 29, 63, 107,
214; Bishop of Ostia and
Velletri, 3, 5n., 9, 125 n. ;
pacificator in Tuscany, 3, 5n.,
214 ; a Ghibelline, 3n. ; took
part in coronation of Henry
VII at Rome, 3 n., 220 ; one
of Colonna party at Carpen-
tras, 3 n., 124, 125 ; death at
Avignon, 3 n. ; one of six
Italian Cardinals at death of
Clement V, 124, 125, 137 n. ;
as one of leaders of Colonna
faction took active part in
securing election of Clement
V, 139 n.

Niccolo degli Albertini ; see
Niccolo da Prato.

Nicholas III, deseription of
himself as * figliuol dell' Orsa',
139 n. ; creates Jacopo Colon-
na Cardinal, 140 n.

Nicholas IV, creates Napoleone
degli Orsini Cardinal, 139 n. ;
and Pietro Colonna, 140 n.

Nobility of substance and nobil-
ity of place, doctrine of rela-
tion between, 189 n.

Norton, C. E. , ix n.

Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits,
224 n.

Novati, F., vin., liii ; Epistolario
di Coluccio Salutati, xlvii n. ;
in Lectura Dantis : Opere Minori di
Dante, xlviiin., liii n., livn.,
5 n. ; in Dante e la Lunigiana,
liiin., livn., 30, 34 n., 35 n.,
107 n.

Obcaecare, 69 n.

Oberto da Romena, D.'s letter to

(Epist. ii), li, 1, 11-18, 20, 29,

106, 215 ; son of Aghinolfo da

R., 12, 14 n., 17 n.
Oblatio, ceremony of, 154 n.-

155 n., 157 n.
Observationes de Dantis Epistola

nuncupatoria ad Canem Grandem

de Scala ; see Witte.
Offerri, technical sense of, 157 n.
Oliphant, M., Makers of Florence,

150.
Omega, 195 n.
Omicron, 195 n.
dfioioTeKevra, errors arisingfrom,

128.
Opere Latine di D. A. ; see Giuliani.
Opere Minori di D. A. ; see Frati-

celli : Passerini.
Oportet, D.'s construction of,

137 n.
Oraculi series, 34 n., 39 n.
Ordelaffi, Scarpetta, D. secre-

tary to, at Forli, xxvi, 98 n..

107 n. ; fateofOrdelaffipapers,

xxvii.
Orosius, Historia adv. Paganos,

49 n., 57 n., 93 n., 128 n.,

129 n., 142 n.
Orsini, ' filii Ursi ', regular

Latin rendering of the name,

139 n. ; Orsini faction, at elec-

tion of Clement V, 139 n.
Orsini, Napoleone, one of six

Italian Cardinals at death of

Clement V, 124, 125, 137 n. ;

one of four Roman Cardinals,

IV. GENERAL INDEX

299

137 n.; a Ghibelline, 139 n. ;
as one of leaders of Colonna
faction took active part in
securing election of Clement
V, 139 n. ; not a member of
Orsini faction, 139 n. ; leader
of opposition to Gascon party
in Conclave at Carpentras,
139 n. ; letter to Philip the
Fair, 139 n. ; lukewarmness
as to restoration of Colonna
Cardinals, 139 n.

Osservazioni sopra V Originalitci della
D. C. di Dante ; see Cancellieri.

Ostia, Bishop of ; see Niccolo da
Prato : Susa, Henry of.

Otomega, 195 n.

Otomicron, 195 n.

Ottimo Comento on D. C, xvii,
176 n., 195 n., 213, 245 n.

Otto I, makes founder of Conti
Guidi Count Palatine in Tus-
cany, 16 n.

Otto IV, 34 n.

Ovid, his use of vestrum, 137 n. ;
D. 's use of Naso for Ovidius, 246.

Oxford Dante, v, vii, viii, ix, li,
ln., 4, 11 n., 14, 19n.,21n.,
22, 29 n.. 33 n., 36 n., 47, 66,
75 n. , 84, 87 ; see Moore.

Oxford Dante Society, x, xiii n.

Padua, defeat of Can Grande at,

163, 223 ; rebels against Henry

VII, 220.
Palestrina, Cardinal-Bishop of ;

see Mandagot.
Pandects, of Justinian, 67 n.
Papacy, typified by Sun, 58 n.,

69 n., 78 n., 137 n., 139 n. ;

eclipse of, by removal of

Apostolic See to Avignon,

139 n.
Papal Chancery, Lectures on the

History of; see Poole.
Papias, Elementarium Doctrinae

Rudimentum, 47 n., 55 n., 67 n.,

173 n.
Paradiso ; see Divina Commedia.

IlapaiT\7]pufjuiTa, 246 n.

Parma, siege of, by Emp.
Frederick II, 72-3 n. ; rebels
against Henry VII, 219.

Parodi, E. G., vi ; in Bull. Soc.
Dant. Ital., vin., liiin., 7n.,
15 n., 19-20, 23 n., 31 n., 54n.,
69nn., 70 n., 83 n., 84 n.,
107 n., 136 nn., 171 nn., 227 n.,
228 n., 229 n., 238 n., 246 n.,
250 n.

Pascoli, G., La Mirabile Visione,
30.

Pascuus, 132 n.

Passerini, G. L., Opere Minori di
D.A., 1, 2, 11, 19, 20, 30, 43,
63, 83, 85, 106, 112, 116, 117 n.,
122, 149, 157 n., 162.

Passionale, 50 n.

Paul, St., martyrdom of, at
Rome, 1 29 n. ; mentions Diony-
sius the Areopagite, 135 n.

Paulus Diaconus, Historia Lango-
bardorum, 52 n.

Pavia, Henry VII at, 96 n.

Pelli, G., Memorie per servire alla
Vita di Dante, xxix, 148.

Percutere in ore gladii, 49 n.

Perugia, chancellorship of, xlvii.

Peter, St., martyrdom of, at
Rome, 129 n. ; termed ' archi-
mandrita ' by D., 133 n.

Peter III, K. of Aragon, 46 n.

Petiiio, one of recognized five
parts of letter, 176 n.

Petrarca, F., Vatican MS. of his
Eclogues, xlvii, 1 ; his canzone
'Vergine bella', 50 n. ; D.'s
letter to Italian Cardinals
known to, 123, 137 n. ; his
canzone ' Spirto gentil ', 123 ;
perhaps met D. at Pisa, 220 n.

Petrarca, Saggi sopra il ; see Ugoni.

Petrarch, Essays on ; see Foscolo.

Pharsalia, battle of, 52 n.

Philip the Fair, of France,
typified by Demetrius I, K.
of Syria, in his dealings with
Clement V, 131 n. ; death, 221.

300

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Phoenix, B. Latini's account of,

136n.
Piccola Antologia della Bibbia

Volgata . . . con alcune Epistole

di D. ; see Pistelli.
' Pie ', 15 n., 138 n.
Piendibeni, F. de' ; see Monte-

pulciano, F. da.
Pietro di Dante, commentary

on D.C., xvii, 166 n., 175 n.,

176 n., 195 n.; alleged letter

of D. to, xxix.
Pignoria, L., possessed MS. of D.'s

letter to Henry VII, xl, 82 n.
Pisa, Henry VII at, 220, 221 ;

burial at, 221 ; D. and Petrarch

perhaps meet at, 220 n.
Pisa, Guido da ; see Guido.
Pisa, Uguccione da ; see

Uguccione.
Pistelli, E., vi, liii ; in BuU. Soc.

Bant. Ital., vin., 24 n., 69 n.,

73 n., 74 n. ; Piccola Antologia

dellaBibbia Volgata . . . con alcune

Epistole di D., livn., 84, 98 n.,

149, 157 n.
Pistoja, Neri expelled from, 21,

213; Latintitle of, 166 n.
Pistoja, Cino da ; see Cino.
Pistojan exile ; see Cino.
Pliny, Hist. Nat., 48 n.
Plumptre, E. H., trans. of Ganz.

xi, 40-1.
Poetria, 176n.

Poggibonsi, Henry VII at, 221.
Polenta, Guido da ; see Guido.
Polysemos, 173.
Pompey, defeat of, at Pharsalia,

52 n.
Poole, K. L., Lectures on the

History of the Papal Chancery,

224 n., 226 n., 231 n.
Pope, typified by Sun, 137 n.
Poppi, Castle of, D. at, 76 n.,

107 ; situation of, 76 n.
Potthast, A. ; see Begesta Pontif.

Bom.
Praeviatio, 180 n.
Prato, Niccolo da ; see Niccold.

Preparazione istorica e critica alla

nuova edizione di D. A. ; see

Dionisi.
Primipilus, 130 n.
Princes and Peoples of Italy;

see Italy.
Proemio, 179 n.
Profiteri, 102 n.

Prosa numerosa, of Cicero, 224.
Prose antiche di Dante, Petrarcha, et

Boccaccio ; see Doni.
Prose di D. A. e di Messer Gio.

Boccacci ; see Biscioni.
Pseudo-Fulgentius, commentary

on Thebaid, 55 n.
Punic War, Second, 72 n.
Punica barbaries, W. Meyer on,

75 n.
Punctalis, 127 n.
Purgatorio ; see Divina Commedia.

Quaestio de Aqua et Terra, quoted,
49n., 55n., 92n., 132 n., 177 n.,
188 n., 189 n. ; cursus in, 231,
233-4, 238, 243.

Quamquam, always used by D.
with subj., 72 n.

Quantitate Animae, De ; see Augus-
tine.

Quintilian, onthe clausula, 239 n.

Bassegna critica della Letteratura

Baliana, 30 n.
Ravenna, D. guest of Guido da

Polenta at, xxxii, xxxv, 222,

223 ; D.'s death at, 223.
Becipere, used absolutely, 205 n.
Begesta Imperii, ed. Bohmer,

216 nn.
Begesta Pontificum Bomanorum, ed.

Potthast, 3n., 5n., 16 n.,

34 n., 66 n., 114 n., 117 n.,

118 n., 140 n.
Begia, 16 n.
Begistres de Boniface VIII, 140 n.,

142 n.
Betractatio, 76 n.
Bhamnus, temple of Nemesis at,

25 n.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

301

Ricci, C, VUltimo Rifugio di

Dante, 109 n.
Richard of St. Victor, De Con-

templatione (otherwise Beniamin

maior), 191 n.
Rienzp, Cola di, letters, 46 n.,

123, 139 n. ; D.'s letter to

Italian Cardinals utilized by,

123 ; parallel passages, 123 n.,

131 n.
Riforma di Baldo d' Aguglione,

156 n., 218.
Bipercuotere, of reflected light,

183 n.
Biihimus, ritmo, 175 n.
Robert, K. of Naples, 46 n.,

88 n., 98 n., 99 n., 216; head

of Guelf opponents of Henry

VII, 98 n., 99 n., 100 n., 216;

typified by Turnus, 98 n. ; by

Goliath, 100 n.
Rockinger, Uber Briefsleller und

Formelbilcher des Mittelalters, 5 n.
Romagna, 3, 9.
Roman MSS. of D.'s letters ; see

Cod. S. Pantaleo 8 ; Cod. Vat.-Palai.

Lat. 1729.
Boman de Troic, 56 n.
Bomania, 91 n., 179 n.
Romanis, F. de, ed. of D. C, 43,

148.
Romans, descended from Tro-

jans, 52 n., 53 n. ; destruction of

Fiesole, and foundation of

Florence, 75 n. ; descent of

Florentines from, 75 n.
Rome, library of Jesuits' College

at, xliii ; coronation of Henry

VII at, 3 n., 87 n., 216 n., 220.
Romena, Aghinolfo da ; see

Aghinolfo.
Romena, Alessandro da ; see

Alessandro.
Romena, Guido da ; see Guido.
Romena, Oberto da ; see Oberto.
Roquemaure, death of Clement

V at, 124.
Ross, W. D., trans. of Metaphysics,

179 n.

Rossetti, D. G., Dante and his

Circle, 26 n. ; Dante at Verona,

150 n.
Rossetti, M. F.. A Shadow ofDanie,

150.
Rostagno, E., Sul Tesio della Lettera

di D. aiCardinali Italiani, liiin. ;

in La Bibliofllia, liii n., 122 ;

diplomatic transcripts ofEpist.

iii (iv), 19 n., and Epist. viii,

122 ; ed. of Boccaccio's Vita di

Dante, 151n.-152n. ; in Bull.

Soc. Dant. Ital., 157 n.
Rutulians, typify opponents of

the Empire, 95 n. ; Turnus, K.

of, 95 n., 98 n.
Ryihme des Bulles Pontiflcales, Le ;

see Valois.

Sabbadini, R., in Bull. Soc. Dant.
Ital., 22 n., 23 n., 24 n. ; pro-
posed emendations in Epist.
iii (iv), 22 n., 23 nn., 24 n. ;
in Epist. iv (iii), 33 n. ; in
Giornale Dantesco, 33 n.

Saggi sopra il Petrarca ; see Ugoni.

Saguntum, siege of, 72 n.

Salutati, Coluccio, xlvii ; his
letters, xlviin., 15 n., 139 n.

Salutatio of letter, rules as to
names in, 5 n. ; formula in,
87n.-88 n. ; one of recognized
five parts of letter, 176 n.

San Godenzo, D. at, 214.

San PantaleoMS. of D.'s letters;
see Cod. S. Pantaleo 8.

Sanctuarium, of Mombritius, 50 n.

Sarzana, leaders of Florentine
Bianchi exiled to, xxi ; D. at,
31, 32, 215.

Scala, Alberto della, 166 n.

Scala, Bartolommeo della, 166 n.

Scala, Can Grande della, D.'s
letter to {Epist. x), xvi, xvii,
xxxvi-xl, xli-ii, xliii, xlvi,
li, liii, livn., 160-211, 223,
225 n., 229 n., 231 n., 237;
preamble to, xxxixn., xli-ii,
160 n. ; letter of D. to, men-

302

IV. GENERAL INDEX

tioned by F. Biondo, xxvi,
98 n., 216 n. ; takes Vicenza,
118 n., 218; defeat at Padua,
163, 223 ; takes Cremona, 163,
223; elected Capt. Gen. of
Ghibelline League in Lom-
bardy, 163, 223 ; Latin form
of surname, 165 n. ; expels
Guelfs from Brescia, 219 ; ap-
pointed Imperial Vicar in Vi-
cenza, 219, 222 ; andin Verona,
222 ; D.'s host at Verona,223.

Scala, Martino, 166 n.

Scandinavians, descent of Lom-
bards from, 52 n.

Scartazzini, G. A., Dante in
Germania, xxxv n. , xxxvi n. ;
Dante Alighieri, seine Zeit, sein
Leben und seine Werke, 2, 12, 30,
43-4, 64, 85, 122, 150, 162 ;
Prolegomeni della D. C, 42, 63,
83, 122, 149, 151 n., 162.

Scheffer-Boichorst, Paul, Aus
Dantes Verbannung, xxxvi n.

Scherillo, M., Le Origini e lo
Svolgimento della Letteratura
Italiana, 43, 64, 85, 149.

Scilicet, abbreviation of, in MSS.,
128 n.

Scipio Africanus Major, defeats
Hannibal at battle of Zama,
141 n.

Scipio Africanus Minor, destroys
Carthage, 141 n.

Seneca, Fortuitorum Remedia of
Martinus Dumiensis at-
tributed to, 25 n.

Seorsim, 173 n.

Serenitasy&s title of honour, 117 n.

Serie di Aneddoti ; see Dionisi.

Servius, commentary on Aeneid,
94 n.

Shadow of Dante ; see Kossetti,
M. F.

Shadwell, C. L., 49 n., 208 n.

Siena, city of, letter to K.
Robertof Sicily, 88 n. ; statutes
of Hospital of Santa Maria at,
166 n.

Silvester, St., legend of, in

Legenda Aurea, 49 n. , 50 n. ;

feast of, 50 n. ; ActusB. Silvestri,

50n.
Simois, repulse of Argonauts

from, by Laomedon, 56 n.
Simpliciter, 207 n.
Societa Dantesca Italiana, v,

vi n., liii, liv ; see Bullettino.
Soderini, Tommaso, xxvii.
Solesmes, Benedictines of, 50 n.
Sonnet of Dante, 'Io sono stato ',

addressed to Cino da Pistoja,

21 n., 23n.,26, 28-9.
Soranzo, Gian, Doge of Venice,

xxxv.
Speculum Iuris (or Iudiciale) ; see

Durandus.
Spoleto, destruction by Barba-

rossa, 73 n., 245.
Stabili, Francesco degli ; see

Cecco d' Ascoli.
Staffetti, L. , I Malaspina ricordati

da Dante, 32 n. ; in Bull. Soc.

Dant. Ital.,32n.
Standard, Imperial, 70 n., 89 n. ;

ancient Boman, 70 n.
Staiuti Senesi, 166 n.
Statuto dello Spedale di Santa Maria

di Siena, 166 n.
Studi sulla D. C di Galileo Galilei,

V. Borghini, ecc. ; see Gigli.
Studii su Giovanni Boccaccio ; see

Barbi.
Stupore, D.'s definition of, 61 n.
Sublimitas, as title of honour,

118 n.
Sufflamen, 70 n.
Summa super titulis Decretalium ;

see Susa, Henry of.
Sun, as type of Papacy, 58 n.,

69 n., 78 n. ; « two Suns ', Pope

and Emperor, 137 n.
Susa, Henry VII at, 45, 217.
Susa, Henry of, Bishop of Ostia,

hence known as 'Ostiensis',

135 n. ; his Summa, 135 n.
Susurrium, viiin., 74 n.
Syntaxis, genitive of, 138 n.

IV. GENERAL INDEX

303

Tam, omission of, 33 n. ; use of
tantum in sense of,138n., 156n.

Tantum, in sense of tam, 138 n.,
156 n. ; abbreviation of, in
MSS., 156 n.

renem, abbreviation of, inMSS.,
156 n.

Testor, 88 n.

Thebaid, commentary of pseudo-
Fulgentius on, 55 n.

Thessaly, 52 n.

Thurot, C, Histoire des Doctrines
grammaticales au Moyen Age,
224 n.

Tiber, 141 n.

Tilly, Johann Tzerclaes, Count
of, captures Heidelberg, xlviii.

Tiraboschi, G., Vita di Dante, 43,
148.

Titles, spurious, to D.'s letters,
12, 30, 127 n. ; titles of cities,
mediaeval formula of, 166 n.

Tommaseo, N., Le Lettere di D.
scoperte da T. Heyse, xlixn.

Tonitruum, 35 n.

Torraca, F., in Bull. Soc. Dant.
Ital., xxv n., liin., 3n., 12n.,
13 n., 14 n., 17 n., 29 n., 31 n.,
32n., 34n., 36 n., 141 n., 151n.;
Comento on D. C, 12 n. ; Nuove
Eassegne, 151 n. ; Studi Dante-
schi, 166 n., 219 n„ 223 n.

Torri, A., Epistole di D. A. edite e
inedite, xxxiin., xxxvin., 1, li,
livn., 1, 2, 11, 19, 29, 30, 42,
43, 63, 83, 85, 106, 112, 116,
117 n., 120 n., 121, 122, 123 n.,
148, 149, 161, 162, 183 n. ;
departs from MS. order of
Battifolle letters, 106 n.

Torricelli, F., in Antologia di
Fossombrone, lii n., 42, 43.

Totila, reputed destruction of
Florence, 75 n., 98 n.

Toynbee, Paget, in Modern
Language Review, vn., xxvn.,
liin., liii, 2, 11, 20, 23 n., 30,
43, 56 n., 63, 64,84, 106, 107,
112, 116, 122, 149, 150, 162,

1 66 n. ; in Reports of Cambridge
(U.S.A.) Danie Society, xiiin.,
xxii n. ; Dante Studies and Re-
searches, xiii n., 50 n., 93 n.,
173 n., 174n., 175n., 176 n. ;
An unrecorded Cent. xvii ed.
ofBrunfs Vitadi Dante, xxii n. ;
diplomatic transcripts of MS.
texts oiEpistolae, 2, 11, 20, 30,
43, 63, 83-4, 106, 112, 116,
122, 149; Dante Dictionary,
32 nn., 55 n. ; Mispunctuation in
title of D.'s letter to Henry VII,
88 n. ; in Bulletin Italien, 88 n.,
94 n. ; Some unacknowledged
obligations of D. to Albertus
Magnus, 91 n. ; in Romania,
91 n., 179 n. ; 'Anubis' or 'a
nubibus' in D.^s letter to Henry
VII, 94 n. ; A Misreading in D.'s
letter to a Friend in Florence,
156 n. ; in Bull. Soc. Dant. Ital.,
156 n. ; D.'s uses of the word
trattato in Convivio and Vita
Nuova, 179 n. ; Life of Dante,
218 n.

Trabea, 71 n.

Tragedy and comedy, distinction
between, 176 n.

Tragos, 176.

Trajan, Emperor, his standard,
70 n.

Translation of D.'s Eleven Letters ;
see Latham.

Translaiion of Latin Works of D. ;
see Wicksteed.

Transteverine faction, compo-
sition of, 141 n.

Trattato, 179 n.

Tre Epistole Latine di D. A. restituiie
a piu vera lezione ; see Muzzi.

Tresor ; see Latini.

Treviso, March of, 3, 9.

Trinity, Holy, 185 n.

Trivulzio, Marehese Gr. G., xlvi,
82 n.

Trojans, ancestors of Komans,
52 n. , 53 n. ; Trojan war,
origin of, 56 n.

304

IV. GENERAL INDEX

Troy, sack of, by Hercules, 56 n.
Troya. Carlo, Del Veltro Allegorico

de 1 Ghibellini, xxvii, 11, 29;

Del Veltro AUegorico di Dante,

xxvii, xliiin., xliv, xlvn.,

xlvi, 20, 121, 124 n.
Turin, Henry VII at, 45, 91 n.,

217 ; R. Accademia delle

Scienze di Torino, 160 n., 162.
Turnus,K.ofRutulians,opponent

of Aeneas, 95 n., 98 n. ; type

of K. Robert of Naples, 98 n.
Tuscany, 3, 9 ; Conti Guidi

Counts Palatine in, 16 n.
Tutte le Opere di D. A. (Barbera),

livn., 2n.
Tutte le Opere di D. A. (Oxford) ;

see Oxford Dante.
Tyre, Prince of, patristic appli-

cation to Lucifer of Ezekiel's

prophecy against, 189 n.

Ugoni, C, Saggi sopra il Petrarca,

149.
Uguccione da Pisa, Magnae

Derivationes , 47 n., 56n., 67 n.,

70n., 71 n.,94n., 133 n., 170n.,

173 n., 176 n.
Uguccione della Faggiuola ; see

Faggiuola.
Ultimo Rifugio di Dante ; see

Ricci.
Ursi, Filii ; see Orsini.

Valence, Italian Cardinals take

refugeat, 124; theirencyclical

from there, 124-6.
Valois, N., Mude surle Rythme des

Bulles Pontificales, 226 n., 231 n.
Vandelli, G., in Bull. Soc. Dant.

Ital., xvii n., 31 n., 170 n.
Vatican MS. of D.'s letters ; see

Cod. Vat.-Palat. Lat. 1729.
Vegetius, De Re Militari, 130 n.
Velletri, Bishop of ; see Niccolo

da Prato.
Vellutello, Alessandro, notice of

D. in commentary on D. C,

xxxi.

Venetian MS. of D.'s letters ; see
Cod. Marc. Lat. xiv. 115.

Venetians, alleged ignorance of
Latin and Italian, xxxiv.

"Venice, D.'s embassy to, on
behalf of Guido da Polenta,
xxxii-v, 223.

Vercelli, 96 n.

Vericour, R. de, Life and Times of
D., 150.

Verona, Capitular Library at,
xliii, 160 ; D. at, 164, 223 ;
Compendio della Storia Politica di
Verona, 166 n. ; Can Grande
appointed Imperial Vicar in,
222 ; D.'s dissertation DeAqua
et Terra at, 223.

Veronese MS. of Epist. x ; see
Cod. 314 Capit. Veron.

Vestrum, Ovid's use of, 137 n.

Vicenza, capture of, by Can
Grande della Scala, 118 n.,
218; Latin titleof, 166 n. ; Can
Grande appointed Imperial
Vicar in, 219, 220.

Victoria, town built by Emp.
Frederick II, 72-3 n.

Villani, Filippo, Expositio super
Comedia Dantis, xivn., xvii,
xxxvi, 32 n., 166 n., 175 n.,
176n. ; lectures on D.C. at
Florence, xvii.

Villani, Giovanni, friend and
neighbour of D., xiv ; account
of D.'s letters, xv-xvi, xl,
xliv ; his Cronica, xv-xvi, 3n.,
4n., 7n., 13 n., 16 n., 43,
56 n., 70n., 72n., 73n., 75 nn.,
82 n., 85, 94 n., 98 n., 108 n.,
109 n., 122, 123 n., 131 n.,
139 n., 213-23.

Virgil, D.'s knowledge of the
Aeneid, xxxv ; D.'s use of Maro
for Virgilius, 90 n., 246.

Virgilio, Giovanni del, poetical
correspondence with D., xlv,
19 n., 223.

Vita Nuova, quoted, xiii, 90 n.,
176 n., 179 n., 194 n., 229 n. ;

IV. GENERAL INDEX

305

D.'s ' division ' of poems of,
194 n. ; ends with velox, 229 n.

Vitae Paparum Avenionensium ; see
Baluze.

Volpi, G-., Rime di Trecentisti
Minori, 31 n.

Voluntas and voluptas, 7 n.

Vulgari Eloquentia, De, Filelfb's
fabrication of beginning of,
xxx ; Trissino's trans. of,
xxx n. ; quoted, 6n., 22 n.,
23n.,34n., 89 n., 95 n., 110n.,
168n., 175 n., 176 nn, 177 n.,
188 n., 225 nn. ; cursus in,
231, 233, 234 n., 238, 243.

Vulgate, quoted, xxii, xxxiii,35n.,
48 n., 49 n., 51 n., 53 n., 69 n.,
72 n., 73 n., 74 n., 76 n., 77 n.,
88 nn., 89 nn., 90 n., 91 n.,
92 n., 93 nn., 95 nn., 98 n.,
99 nn., 100 nn., 102 nn., 114n.,
127 n., 128 nn., 129 nn.,
130 nn., 131 nn., 132 nn.,
133 nn., 134 nn , 135 n., 136n.,
141n.,142nn., 167 n., 168 n.,
173 n., 185 nn., 189 nn.,
190 nn., 191 nn., 192 nn.,
194 nn., 195 nn., 208 n. ; MSS.
of, in Bodleian, 195 n.

Wagner, R, Die Echiheit cler drei
Kaiserbriefe Dantes, 83 n., 84 n.,
249 n.

Wegele, F. X., D. A.'s Leben und
Werke, 64, 85, 122, 150.

Wenceslas IV, K. of Bohemia,
94 n.

Wicksteed, P. H., Translaiion oj
Latin Works of D. A., viin.,
livn., 2. 12, 20, 30, 44, 64,
74 ii., 85, 122, 150, 162; Pro-
visional trans. of D.'s Politiccd
Letters, 44, 64, 85, 122, 150;

trans. of Convivio, 215 n. ; D.
and Giovanni del Virgilio, 223 nn.

Witte, Karl, Dantis Alligheni
Epistolae quae exstant, xxxii n.,
xlv, xlvii, 19, 43, 82 n., 83,
85, 121, 123 n., 138 nn., 161,
185 n., 187 n. ; Neu aufgefundene
Briefe des D. A., xlvn., xlix,
2 n., 11 n., 64 n. ; Dante-For-
schungen, xlv n., 1 n., lii nn.,
2n., 12 n., 64 n., 161, 168 n. ;
in Antologia Fiorentina, xlvi,
121 ; ed. of De Monarchia,
xlvii n., 1 n. ; ed. of D.'s
lyrical poems, xlix n., 1, li, 29 ;
Torris Ausgabe von Dantes
Briefen, 1 n. ; Observationes de
Dantis Epistola ad Canem
Grandem, lii n., 161 ; con-
jectural emendations in Episio-
lae, 24 n., 138 n., 185 n.

Women, D.'s depreciatory re-
ferences to, 177 n.

Wright, I. C., Memoir of Dante,
150.

Zatta, A., texts of Epist. x, 161.
Zama, battle of, 141 n.
Zenatti, O., Dante e Firenze, xxiv,

xxv n., xlviinn., xlviii nn..

liin., 1, 3n., 12 n., 21 n.,

29, 30 n., 31 n., 32 n., 64,

107 n., 108 n., 149 n., 155 nn.,

157 n.
Zibaldone Boccaccesco, xliii, 19 n. ;

facsimile of, 20 n.
Zielinski, Th., Der consiruciive

Rhythmus in Cicero's Reden,

238 n., 239 n.
Zingarelh, N., in Rassegna critica

della Lett. Ital., 30 n. ; Dante r

30 n., 45 nn, 149, 217 nn.
Zucca del Doni ; see Doni.

'Suole a riguardar giovare altrui.'

Purg. iv. 54,

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Dante Alighieri
Epistolae

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